What's the best way to get Twitter’s Fail Whale? By posting hundreds of facts about whales, of course. In his first 24 hours, Mayhem chided and taunted Twitter until he learned what he wanted to know. How many tweets could he drop before Twitter got wise and shut him down? The answer, as it turns out, was 447. After that, Mayhem had the attention of Twitter and was ready to teach valuable lessons about being protected from the unexpected and spontaneous vulnerabilities that exist everywhere in life.

We announced that Mayhem was “open” on Twitter on our Facebook page, and with PR support. Mayhem’s handle received 6,435 followers in the 5 days following the Fail Whale event.

The Allstate Mayhem character, the personification of vulnerability and unpredictability, has a strong presence on Facebook. However, entering the world of Twitter would be challenging. Standing out as yet another account on Twitter (a brand no less) would require something different. And launching Mayhem would require something only Mayhem could claim. So, in typical Mayhem fashion, he ignored best practices and instead, set out to shut his account down before it ever began. Mayhem sought out the infamous Fail Whale, which seemed the appropriate way to announce his arrival on Twitter.