State Farm sets Super Bowl return with ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ parody

Super Bowl viewers, prepare yourselves to be singing “Livin’ on a Prayer” all week next week.

State Farm, which won the USA Today Ad Meter in 2024 with its “Like a Good Neighbaaa” commercial featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, is back in the Super Bowl this year after sitting 2025 out. This time around, the insurance brand’s 60-second spot, centered around the Bon Jovi hit and another all-star cast, is meant to convince viewers that State Farm’s services are more than just halfway there, Head of Marketing Alyson Griffin said.

“We want customers to feel confident in their insurance,” she told Marketing Brew. “It’s a tricky, often misunderstood category, and we don’t want them to feel like they’re living on a prayer.”

Sing along

The ad parodies the 1986 hit song by introducing the fictional Halfway There Insurance company, with Keegan-Michael Key and Danny McBride playing questionably competent employees. They’re joined by Hailee Steinfeld, whose character is in the market for insurance, as well as the Grammy-nominated group KATSEYE. The ad leaves room for a continuation of the story, which will be revealed on Super Bowl Sunday.

The song not only anchors the plot of the campaign, but also makes sense for a Super Bowl ad considering its popularity across sports venues, Griffin said.

“There are many, many sports stadiums…where that song comes on between quarters, or between plays, or innings,” she said. “We thought it was a really, really great fit for a song that gets customers to realize we’re here to help.”

Plus, she added, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the song’s release—and it’s an enduring crowd pleaser at any karaoke bar.

Generational talent

In addition to the soundtrack, the cast for this year’s ad packs a punch, and is in line with other State Farm ads in recent years that have been stacked with Emmy and Grammy award winners, including Jason Bateman and SZA. Even though this year’s Super Bowl campaign is meant to be more lighthearted than cinematic, Griffin said, her team still wants to be “raising the bar” when it comes to celebrity cameos.

The State Farm team also wanted a cast that would appeal to audiences across generations, which Griffin said will ideally help drive views and engagement with the brand. While industry accolades like Ad Meter wins are nice, generating new business and underscoring State Farm’s value proposition are ultimately more important, she said, especially considering the cost—and benefits—of Super Bowl ads.

“The Big Game is definitely one of the best values in marketing in the United States,” Griffin said. “It’s important that marketing is used as a lever to gain awareness of our brand and attract more customers, and the eyeballs, and the momentum, and the moment of the Super Bowl [are] still a very strong value.”

Tease, please

State Farm didn’t end up cracking open its Super Bowl playbook last year—the brand pulled its planned campaign from the game last year in the aftermath of the LA wildfires—but there are some lessons Griffin and her team have learned from Super Bowls past.

She’s a big believer in the teaser approach, which has sometimes included appearances from State Farm ad stars on late-night shows in the run-up to the campaign. That strategy started with Schwarzenegger on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2024 and continued last year when creator Kai Cenat promoted the brand’s “Bateman vs. Batman” campaign on the show, Griffin said.

KATSEYE is set to appear on The Tonight Show ahead of the Super Bowl this year, Griffin said, which Fallon is already teasing, and State Farm started running its own teasers during the conference championships. The Super Bowl spot will also be supported by a social push and out-of-home ads running in New York, she said; the campaign will continue to run with different ads after the game.

“A tease phase, a launch phase, and a sustain phase is how we approach, not a one-and-done,” Griffin said. “What I’ve learned in the last almost five years being at State Farm is the difference between companies who just look at a launch calendar…and move on, versus a company that has the opportunity to think about a customer, and a journey, and a story, and a build, in order to make people understand what we’re trying to say.”