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 American insurance company has sparked fury amongst California homeowners this month amid 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 residents in the state, leaving many in a state of crisis after their properties were turned to rubble.
A number of Hollywood stars have publicly hit out at the insurer over the cancellations, including comedic actor Rob Schneider, who furiously branded them a ‘pile of crap’.
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 broadcasters Fox were charging $7million per 30-second spot for ads during the game. It is unclear whether State Farm had already paid that fee before opting to pull out.
State Farm has pulled its ad from next month’s Super Bowl broadcast amid the LA wildfires
The insurance firm has sparked outrage for cancelling fire policies before the inferno broke out
‘State Farm, State Farm agents, and our employees are all focused on helping customers impacted by the Southern California wildfires in the midst of this tragedy,’ the company said in a statement after the humiliating U-turn.
‘State Farm serves more [than] 8 million customers in California – more than any other insurer – and we’ve been doing this for nearly 100 years. Our claims force is the largest in the industry and we are bringing the full scale and force of our catastrophe response teams to help customers recover – whether they are on the ground in LA or across the country.
‘We are proud to report that our customer contact is at 90%. We’ve received over 7,400 home and auto claims, and we are putting tens of millions of dollars back into customers’ hands. These numbers will continue to rise as residents return and assess damage.
‘Our focus is firmly on providing support to the people of Los Angeles. We will not be advertising during the game as originally planned.’
The decision undoubtedly comes as a major financial blow for State Farm given the Super Bowl is the most-watched annual event on television, with an average of more than 123 million viewers tuning in for last year’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
CBS, who broadcasted last year’s showpiece, are said to have charged $6.47m 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 insists 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 tuning in last year
According to the Wall Street Journal, the insurance firm has spent $23.2m on national linear TV since January 1; including $12.2m on NFL playoff games through January 11-13, 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 on filming a commercial ahead of this year’s Super Bowl in just over three weeks time.
Other companies that are still poised to run ads during the game include snack marketers Pringles and Reese’s, plus domain-name seller GoDaddy.
State Farm will still be expected to air commercials during the next two rounds of the NFL playoffs, including this weekend’s Divisional Round.
