Why State Farm’s Arnold Schwarzenegger Super Bowl ad is a movie

Arnold Schwarzenegger was on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last Thursday to promote his newest action film, Agent State Farm. Which just happens to be 60 seconds long. And is premiering during the Super Bowl. Still, there seemed to be a bit of confusion as to whether it was an actual movie or just a commercial for State Farm. 

First of all, of course it’s a State Farm Super Bowl ad. In fact, having Schwarzenegger appear on the late-night show is also a coordinated cog in the insurance brand’s well-oiled Super Bowl campaign machine. Another launches today, in the form of an extended teaser, which takes place behind the scenes of Agent State Farm where Schwarzenegger is trying to perfect the movie’s signature catchphrase—also known as the brand’s long-time tagline, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” There’s just the small matter of Arnold’s accent.

It’s action-packed and pretty damn funny as the director tries to get Schwarzenegger to pronounce the ‘r’ in neighbor, which keeps coming out as neighbaaaaaa. Unlike many celebrity-drenched Super Bowl ad concepts, where the brand itself is often lost in the laughs, State Farm’s tagline is central to the joke. 

“When people hear the slogan and see the action playing out,” says State Farm chief marketing officer Kristyn Cook, “we want people to think of State Farm, but also know who we are and what we stand for. And I think our brand can uniquely do that in a fun and humorous way.”

Created with ad agency HighDive, it marks the brand’s return to the Super Bowl after a year away. Back in 2021, the brand’s big game ad, “Drake From State Farm,” featured Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Paul Rudd, and Drake coming on to be a stand-in for State Farm’s usual spokesperson, Jake. But in 2023, the brand took a step away from the official broadcast to instead collaborate with TikTok mega-creator Khaby Lame on a pregame video challenging viewers to guess how many times host venue State Farm Stadium would be mentioned during the game, all for the chance to win a cameo in one of Lame’s videos. Far from a step down from a big game ad, the work scored more than 220 million views and generated more than one billion earned media impressions. In October, it tapped a viral moment, matching Donna Kelce and Jake at an Eagles game, soon after the Kelce matriarch was famously seen hanging out with Taylor Swift at a Chiefs game. That move, orchestrated with Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort, scored 415 earned media placements with an estimated advertising value of $23 million, as well as 2.6 billion social media impressions, and a 15-times increase in search engagement for State Farm following the broadcast. 

 “All of that momentum led us to make the decision to lean into this iconic slogan we have, and to do it in a very clever and meaningful way,” says Cook. “We continue to be the official home and auto insurance of the NBA and the WNBA, which is seeing hockey-stick growth, and certainly we’re very proud of all of the work that we’ve done with the best bundle in the league—Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Coach Reid—throughout the NFL season, so we’re excited to cheer them on.”

The decision to come back this year with an official ad allows State Farm to combine lessons from the past two years and engage with audiences in many different ways, anchored by the big game spot. This involves a handful of agency and media partners in addition to HighDive, like OMD, Optimum Sports, The Marketing Arm, Infinity Marketing Team, and FleishmanHillard.

In the media, there’s Jake and Schwarzenegger working out at Gold’s Gym in Venice, California. On social, there’s Jason Momoa congratulating Schwarzenegger on his latest big role. TikTok star Loren Gray has dropped the Agent State Farm theme song, penned by famed songwriter Bonnie McKee. And, of course, the Fallon appearance.

The 360-degree approach to the Super Bowl is a microcosm of State Farm’s overall, blitz-like approach to sports. It has stadium (Arizona) and arena (Atlanta) naming rights, it sponsors halftime and post-game reports, the NBA draft, and more. The brand also signed Iowa college basketball star, Caitlin Clark, in October for its first-ever NIL deal. 

“Sports gives us the opportunity to bring all that together, and do it in a way where people are excited in cultural moments where it matters, to build brand equity over time,” says Cook.

Like a good sports marketaaaaa, State Farm is everywhere.