State Farm is forced into humiliating Super Bowl U-turn after LA wildfires… and the cost is immeasurable
State Farm has pulled its commercial from next month’s Super Bowl broadcast after receiving fierce criticism following the outbreak of the Los Angeles wildfires.
The major US insurance company has sparked anger among California homeowners this month over the fires, which have destroyed thousands of homes and killed an estimated 25 people.
Just months before the devastating inferno broke out, State Farm made the controversial decision to revoke fire coverage for tens of thousands of state residents, leaving many in a state of crisis after their properties were reduced to rubble.
A number of Hollywood stars have publicly challenged the insurer over the cancellations, including comedy actor Rob Schneider, who angrily branded them “a load of rubbish”.
And amid the outrage, State Farm has abandoned its plan to run a commercial during Super Bowl LIX, which takes place on February 9 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
Reports earlier this year suggested that broadcasters were charging Fox $7 million per 30-second spot for ads during the match. It is unclear whether State Farm had already paid this fee before deciding to withdraw.
State Farm has removed its ad from next month’s Super Bowl broadcast due to the LA wildfires
The insurance company has sparked outrage for canceling fire policies before the inferno broke out
“State Farm, State Farm agents and our associates are all focused on helping customers affected by the Southern California wildfires amid this tragedy,” the company said in a statement after the humbling reversal.
“State Farm serves more [than] 8 million customers in California – more than any other insurer – and we’ve been doing it for almost 100 years. Our claims team is the largest in the industry, and we deploy the full size and strength of our disaster response teams to help customers recover – whether they are on-site in LA or across the country.
‘We are proud to report that our customer contact is at 90%. We have received more than 7,400 home and auto claims and we return tens of millions of dollars to customers. These numbers will continue to rise as residents return and assess the damage.
“Our focus is firmly on providing support to the residents of Los Angeles. We will not be advertising during the game as originally planned.”
The decision undoubtedly comes as a major financial blow to State Farm, as the Super Bowl is the most-watched annual event on television, with an average of more than 123 million viewers tuning in to last year’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco. 49ers.
CBS, which aired the showpiece last year, is said to have charged $6.47 million for 30-second commercial slots.
State Farm ran an ad featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito during the 2024 Super Bowl, which won USA Today’s annual popularity contest.
State Farm emphasizes that its ‘focus is firmly on providing support to the people of Los Angeles’
The company’s 2024 Super Bowl ad featured Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito
The Super Bowl is the most-watched annual TV event, with 123 million viewers last year
According to the Wall Street Journalthe insurance company has spent $23.2 million on national linear television since January 1; including $12.2 million in NFL playoff games through January 11 and 13, which regularly draw some of the largest TV audiences after the Super Bowl.
It would also likely have already spent a significant amount of money and time filming a commercial ahead of this year’s Super Bowl, in just over three weeks.
Other companies still ready to show ads during the game include snack marketers Pringles and Reese’s, plus domain name seller GoDaddy.
State Farm is still expected to air commercials during the next two rounds of the NFL playoffs, including this weekend’s Divisional Round.