On the (inside, back) cover of a Rolling Stone

If you're a Rolling Stone reader, you might be surprised to see a familiar face looking out at you from the inside back cover of the magazine's Oct. 4 issue.

That bald-headed, tattooed, tough guy staring you down from the center of a full-page Allstate ad? He's none other than St. Charles' own Dean Akey -- your friendly local insurance salesman.

Akey recently became the face of a national campaign marketing insurance to motorcycle riders through Allstate agents who are riders themselves.

Of course, he words it a bit differently.

"I don't consider myself an agent that rides," Akey likes to say, "but a biker that sells insurance."

Akey owns Akey Financial Services in St. Charles and has sold Allstate insurance for three years.

Aside from the magazine ad -- also being featured in Men's Fitness and several motorcycle publications -- he is appearing in a radio spot playing across the country, and has been part of Allstate's "Garage Motor Tour" at motorcycle rallies and trade shows.

"He's generally a brand ambassador for us -- and an excellent one at that," said John Anderson, Allstate's director of marketing for emerging businesses, who also lives in St. Charles.

Anderson said the campaign aims to make new strides in serving motorcycle riders by matching them with an agent who "not only understands policies, but are riders and have a passion for riding." The company boasts more than 600 such agents.

At first, Akey was reluctant to participate because he just didn't see himself as a model. But he believed in the product, and eventually warmed up to the idea.

Photo shoots with agents from across the country took place in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

Akey showed up to the Chicago shoot just as would for work: riding his 2001 Harley-Davidson Road King and wearing blue jeans.

He threw on a pair of leather cut-off gloves, a patch-laden leather vest and a sleeveless shirt that would show off his half-sleeves of tattoos.

"The other guys that came to get their pictures taken, they had makeup and wardrobe people and everything," Akey said. "Some showed up and put on leathers, and they were rubbing dirt on it and stuff.

"Then they were asking prior to taking my picture what my pants size was. I'm like, 'I got my own stuff.'"

He hopped on his Harley and stared at the camera.

"The photographer looked at me and said, 'You're fine, just the way you are.'"

Akey, who is known locally for his work with charities and the Kane County Reserve Corps Rescue Riders program, said last week that several people had recognized him from the ad.

"From the standpoint of a perfect stranger coming up to me and saying, 'I saw you in a magazine,' it's pretty cool," he said, adding with a chuckle: "A guy like me, it's very unlikely you would see my picture anywhere other than the post office."

Anderson, the marketing director, said more ads are in store, including one featuring Allstate agent and rider Mike Havlic of Vernon Hills.

jstockinger@dailyherald.com