Nightmare Love

I fell in love recently. Not with a person, or an animal, but with a creature from, of all things, a State Farm commercial. Insurance commercials are their own kind of advertising genre (read: ring of hell). They are most closely related to the legacy snack or candy commercial in that for the most part, we know what they're selling, the brand name, the main characters, and what to expect. These types of ads are facing audiences that typically already know their brand, use it or a competitor, and probably already have an opinion made up. For the most part, they're seeking to be memorable and at best, tell you about a service or flavor you haven't yet tried. Both ad types are some of the goofiest. There is a broad range of variety in the tone of the drink commercial cannon, yet candy and insurance are reliably goofy on CTV and streaming platforms.

Sure, if you're watching a hard hitting drama, your algorithm may give you the Dennis Haysbert Allstate ad instead of the Mayhem varietal, but by and far the industry has favored humor. I personally miss the days when Insurance commercials gave their spokespeople fully fledged back stories. But now, with backstories relegated to digital content, the 30-second ad is practically long-form content. I always enjoyed the Geico Gecko's bashful charm, but the Jake from State Farm– bit always annoyed me. Their current go-to-gimmick (the jingle isn't new at all and the use of their famous "Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There" was reinstated in early 2020 after a 4 year hiatus) is a sort of fairy-godmother situation where frustrated home, auto, or whatever, owners sing the jingle and bam- agent materializes.

It's actually an interesting set up in today's AI-answering service dominated realm. Despite all the silly setups, the core of the ad gets at two customer desires: people want a real person to help them and they want help fast. Typically, I've found these ads so diluted with annoying fluff that the messaging behind was mostly lost. It wasn't until recently, when I fell in love with possibly the most annoying, most left-field-fluff set up they've done that I realized maybe these commercials are worth the 30-seconds of non-skip time.

So I've fallen in love with the nightmare from State Farm. I'm guessing this ad was some kind of spooky-season release, but honestly it's a banger. "This is a Nightmare!" features a family that unwittingly conjures a spooky little nightmare (complete with Ebenezer style dressing gown and a hood/bow combo that's lowkey giving Damson Madder) who in turn, suggests State Farm. It's a delightfully quick setup, word-play more than the ridiculous dramatics of the type found in the aforementioned candy commercials but it's the nightmare itself that stole my heart. He or she (perhaps even a they) has a sweet-natured earnestness. Despite their nightmare-ish appearance, they're somewhat cheerful, positive, and well, helpful (even though it is implied that this helpfulness will lead to the nightmare's own demise).

Every year, around this time, spooky-season-themed advertising starts cropping up (for both insurance and Spirit Halloweens). This year it started early, with such an overwhelming volume of Wednesday collabs that I'm shocked Thing hasn't locked in an Allstate gig. State Farm's agent appearance gimmick lends itself to the Beetlejuice setup Progressive used in 2024, but I'm glad they went the more original (albeit Beetlejuice knock-off, erm, inspired) route.

It's the character they've created that takes what could have been another example of forced-humor in an insurance ad into this surprisingly strategic, seamlessly executed, overall solid, 30-second ad. Despite the seasonal setup, the nightmare itself has a quality of timelessness (I mean, based on the nightgown they've seen the ghost of past, present, and future) and enough human emotion to make the viewer almost forget about the couple or the State Farm agent. In under 30-seconds, we get to see the nightmare's performance persona, their giddy side, and watch their face fall as they realize they're the problem State Farm is about to solve. We get to feel the pain of the couple just long enough to remember State Farm when we may face similar frustrations- without negative associations- yet it never brings the tone down. The State Farm agent herself is the least annoying of the fairy-god-agents they've sent. This ad finally gets across what the obnoxious State Farm ads have been trying to convey for so long: real human help, fast.

A lovable insurance commercial is not quite a big fish to fry, but it has proven to be a tricky one to get right. Despite the many many companies (and the many many agencies) casting their net, there have not been (imho) a whole lot of success reeling the audience in. Name recognition feels like the best we can get. I don't know that the nightmare commercial made me feel the need to seek out insurance from State Farm, so in some sense the ad failed. But in another, the ad actually made me think about exactly what some strategist in FiDi wanted me to think. The voice actor, video editor, and even– surely– some AI special effects came together to make a strategically solid and entertaining insurance commercials. And maybe when it comes to insurance commercials, that is the best we can strive for. Well, that and a character in line with the Labubu craze.