The IPLAC Creator of the Year Award is given to honor the creative achievements, for events occurring primarily in the Chicago metropolitan area, that are eligible for patent, copyright, or trademark protection. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the award for the year 2020 was delayed. IPLAC is proud to recognize Leo Burnett Advertising Agency and Allstate Insurance Company, jointly, as the winners of the 2020 IPLAC Creator of the Year Award, for their achievements in the area of trademarks and copyrights.
Key Achievements
The 2020 Creator of the Year award was granted for the achievements of both Leo Burnett Advertising Agency and Allstate Insurance Company jointly for their contributions to the field of commercial advertising, mainly in video format, but more specifically for the campaign featuring the character Mayhem:
Conceived in 2010 and lasting into 2018, the character is recognized as a driving force behind Allstate’s comeback to other insurance companies’ mascots, Flo from Progressive and the GEICO Gecko, as well as a late-arriving emu from Liberty Mutual. As selling auto insurance moved away from the long-term local agency relationship to a more focused direct to consumer advertising model, commercial ads proliferated so that an overwhelming amount of direct-to-consumer auto insurance ad revenue is attributable to this now mainstay in the advertising field. Indeed, it is said that 6% of YouTube’s revenue comes from the GEICO Gecko.
Into this arena stepped “Mr. Mayhem,” later just Mayhem, a quirky bruised-up man in black, wreaking all kinds of damage to illustrate that if you cheap out on your insurance, you may end up paying a lot more in the end. Singlehandedly, he turned Allstate’s auto insurance business around. For these reasons, we honor two giants in the local economy, Leo Burnett Advertising Agency and Allstate Insurance Company.