• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, January 2, 2015

Viewers of the New Year Day’s Sugar Bowl game were treated to an interesting cross-platform real-time advertising event courtesy of Allstate Insurance Co. and its popular “Mayhem” character.

He has advanced from randomly blindsiding hapless victims on the road to burgling their houses and selling the loot online — all to illustrate the danger of over-sharing on social media.

In a series of TV spots aired during the football game, Mayhem, played with carefree nihilism by actor Dean Winters, finds out that a couple is away by their ill-judged social media posts, then breaks into their house and sells off their belongings to viewers at throwaway prices.

The multiplatform stunt focused on a real couple, recruited as part of a market research study for Allstate’s ShareAware initiative, and actually sold items identical to their real belongings at the Web site, www.mayhemsale.com — including a new Chevy Volt that went for just $200.

The campaign also included a social media component, driving thousands of new followers to Mayhem’s Twitter account, where the character chronicles his ongoing acts of entropy.

The ads and online sale highlight in humorous fashion the real danger of people sharing their travel plans or current whereabouts on social media. Back in 2010, the Association of British Insurers warned that home insurance premiums could rise up to 10% due in part to an increase in home invasions resulting from people revealing their whereabouts on social networks.

According to the ABI report, around 40% of British social network users post their holiday plans online, while roughly a third reveal their ordinary weekend plans.

Meanwhile, 78% of convicted burglars surveyed by a British security firm, Friedland, said they think burglars who are still practicing the vocation are using social media to find likely targets.