I, like many of you, was extremely dismayed when the original Jake From State Farm, played by Jake Stone, had been swapped out for this new guy, Kevin Mimms. What happened to my Jake From State Farm, I screamed at the heavens. My first guess was that contract negotiations had broken down. Original Jake must have, rightly, demanded 5 million dollars to continue on in his role as a cultural icon, State Farm balked, came back with 3.5, Jake held his ground, State Farm came up to 4, not good enough, said Jake through his agent, and they all walked away disappointed but happy they’d done their best. Evidently this is not how it went.
In this article in MediaPost, State Farm’s assistant vice president of marketing and brand Patty Morris tells us that Original Jake is an actual State Farm employee, and since the role of Jake was being expanded and was now “demanding,” he had to be replaced by a “professional actor.” This is obviously wrong-headed. The ENTIRE reason the character of Jake From State Farm is one you’d even consider expanding is because that kid slayed that performance. No one thinks “the character” Jake From State Farm is funny. We think the actor is funny. If you want to expand the role, give him more deadpan shit to say. He’s good at it. In this new campaign, you could have named Kevin Mimms’s character Kevin From State Farm and it wouldn’t have made a lick of difference since it has zero connection to the wit and tone of the original. I find it especially galling that the concept of the campaign featuring New Jake is about how State Farm can’t be replaced. Sure sure, State Farm can’t be replaced, Chris Paul can’t be replaced, but you know who can? The office serf we exploited for financial gain. And listen, Kevin Mimms is fine. He’s good. He is a professional actor. He hits his mark, remembers his lines, he’s likable. He’s just not Jake.
The commercial above is ok. I like Alfonso Ribeiro – especially the “Woooo” and “This is my ID!” – but both his car and bag bear the acronym TNCP. I can only assume it stands for The New Chris Paul which kind of destroys the reality of the scene. If he’s aware that there’s an OLD Chris Paul, then he must know that he’s not the REAL Chris Paul. Move on, State Farm. Jake From State Farm will always be Jake Stone. Let Kevin be Kevin.
By the way, the security guard is played by the excellent Maile Flanagan who gives us one of the all time great commercial takes in this Geico spot from 2014.
“What?”
LOL
criticalmush.com 