Mayhem Sale - Something happened during Ohio State Buckeyes' surprising and impressive 42-35 victory over Alabama's Crimsom Tide last night that has left marketers and shoppers wiping their eyes in disbelief. There was a live sale of items advertised as the loot from a burglar's heist of the home of a couple who were at the game.
The AllState Mayhem Sale ad, which came on during the game, shows actor Dean Winters in an apartment. Winters plays the role of a burglar, who is apparently selling off the items he finds in a home he has broken into.
"I'm a social media savvy burglar," he explains. "And these people, Matt and Shannon [the owners of the property], are real people. They're at the big bowl game in New Orleans right now."
Winters (or Mayhem as his Twitter handle says) discloses that he has been tracking the couple for a long time. He also reveals that he decided to stage the stick-up after deducting from social media messages that Matt and Shannon had gone to the game in New Orleans.
Now, here's the good part, the items advertised on the Mayhem Sale website were sold for bottom low prices. For example, a Chevy Volt went for just $200 and a 26" flat screen television set was sold for $26, a 60" television went for $60 and a video game player was sold for $7.
Although Mayhem warns beforehand that he doesn't vouch for the quality of the items sold, saying "You might get a huge deal, you might get a certified piece of garbage." Thousands of eager shoppers are reported to have visited the Mayhem Sale website - causing it to shut down and a back up being used in place.
The Mayhem Sale is long over, but the website is still up. Now visitors are greeted with a message that tells the story of Matt and Shannon's burglary while imploring them to visit the AllState site and learn how to protect themselves online.
Fans took to social media to express their surprise at the Mayhem Sale ad. While some took the ad's storyline to be real, other applauded AllState for the headline-grabbing sales pitch.
Has anyone figured out Matt and Shannon's Twitter accounts and where they are? I'm worried about them. #MayhemSale
— Ray Wert (@raywert) January 2, 2015
Really tired of this football game getting in the way of the #mayhemsale .....
— Melissa (@30plussome) January 2, 2015
I'm not even watching the game anymore! To busy refreshing the #mayhemsale page!
— Kristine Pratt (@KPrattKSL) January 2, 2015
+1 of the night goes to @Allstate & #MayhemSale. They've managed to make a TV commercial engaging & take away an entire audience from ESPN.
— Jessica Smith (@WarJessEagle) January 2, 2015
Instead of breaking my site more, break Twitter instead. RT this and I'll let you know when we're back selling. #MayhemSale
— Mayhem (@Mayhem) January 2, 2015
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