Allstate’s new KU commercial introduces Grammy Awards audience to ‘Rock Chalk’
What a weekend for KU fans, who on Saturday watched their basketball team hold off a comeback effort from BYU to win the 1,000th (official) game played in Allen Fieldhouse.
Then on Sunday night, the school starred in Allstate’s new KU-themed commercial that aired halfway through the Grammy Awards.
The 30-second spot debuted last week. It’s part of Allstate’s “Check First” campaign that launched two years ago.
The ads spotlight people who save money on their insurance by checking first with Allstate, but then make silly mistakes in other parts of their lives when they don’t “check first.”
In this one, cue the fanatic student who has painted his entire body KU blue. He looks like a member of Blue Man Group.
“I checked Allstate first and saved hundreds on my car insurance. Unfortunately I did not check just how permanent my body paint was,” he complains.
Next we see him in his car, scrubbing his blue skin furiously, screaming when the paint won’t come off. He’s still blue when he sheepishly walks on stage at graduation, to the horror of his parents in the audience.
“Checking Allstate first was a great idea. Not checking to see if the body paint was permanent. Not my finest moment,” he admits.
“Yeah, check Allstate first. You could save hundreds. Rock Chalk!”
The commercials have had collegiate themes. In one, a worker bee barks like a Georgia bulldog at his unsmiling boss.
In another, a young man in a Duke T-shirt shows up to meet his girlfriend’s parents, who unfortunately are North Carolina fans.
P.S. and by the way ... here’s the history of that Rock Chalk chant in case you don’t know what that even means. (Some of us do.)
This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 10:12 AM.
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