In Allstate ‘check first’ ad, boyfriend with Duke shirt stuns girlfriend’s UNC family

By R.L. Bynum

Just in time for the week of the season’s first North Carolina-Duke men’s basketball meeting, a commercial has begun running that will amuse Tar Heels fans.

The Allstate Insurance Company has featured many college programs in its “check first” ad campaign, spotlighting fans making egregious mistakes.

This time, a boy doesn’t check what he’s wearing first before he visits his girlfriend’s house, which is full of Carolina stuff because it’s a UNC-loving family. They obviously already know they cheered for different schools.

The family is undoubtedly eager to meet him … until he shows up at the door wearing a Duke T-shirt.

As the door opens, her mom — wearing a Carolina jacket — greets him with a smile that quickly disappears. The girlfriend, wearing a Carolina sweater, looks surprised and disappointed.                

The girlfriend looks back at her dad, who is sitting in a chair with a stern look on his face and wearing a UNC vest. He quickly shakes his head.

Realizing his mistake, the boyfriend closes the door and hastily retreats. The mom lowers the door’s shade, and the boy is seen walking away.

Clearly, he should have checked first.

Of course, the best rivalry ad was from 18 years ago when UNC coach Hubert Davis worked with former Duke player Jay Bilas at ESPN. In the ad, set at a UNC dining hall, Bilas kept getting hassled. Bilas asks, “What is with these people?” Davis replies, “I don’t know, Duke boy.”

Earlier ads in the Allstate campaign have included:

— A fan showing up at an Oregon football tailgate joyfully offering a duck to cook, much to the dismay of the Ducks fans.

—An Alabama fan regaling Tide football players with the phrase, “High Tide,” when the phrase he needed to use was “Roll Tide!”

— West Virginia fans with letters painted on their chests in the wrong order, forming the word “STEW” instead of “WEST.”

Photos via screenshots