State Farm Has a Dark Side?

"Like a good neighbor, state farm is there!" Everyone has seen these commercials, and knows this catchphrase. Why is this? It's just so catchy! There's also that little tune that accompanies it afterwards that makes it much more memorable. I love how in the commercials, they always start out with the signature catchphrase, "Like a good neighbor, state farm is there!" and then add things like "in my office!" or "with a hot tub!" In this commercial's case, what accompanies the phrase are "with a hot guy", "who's also sensitive", and finally, "but has a dark side." This is probably my favorite State Farm commercial yet, so then I ask myself, what did the advertisers do with this commercial that just makes it so entertaining and memorable. Well, let's break it down!

First of all, this commercial satisfies one of our needs. When the girls come and notice that there has been damage done to the car, the two who don't own the car freak out. However, the owner of the car is calm and relaxed, because she feels secure. She knows that all she has to do is say that magical phrase, and then abracadabra her car is fixed. Watching how secure this lady is because she knows she can rely on State Farm to fix her troubles makes the viewer of this commercial feel that if they have State Farm Insurance, they too can feel the same in any trouble. The advertisers definitely satisfy the need to feel safe in this manner, which makes the commercial effective. However, that's not all.

The advertisers also have a couple of advertising techniques up their sleeves. The two most prominent techniques are diversion and wit and humor/sex appeal. You can see that these two techniques are used because the commercial diverts us from what State Farm Insurance can reasonably do to what they definitely can't. They do this using the wit and humor/sex appeal. If you look back at the commercial, you'll realize that they only talked about what State Farm could actually do once. Right after the lady said the phrase to contact a State Farm Insurance worker to fix the car, it went straight to focusing on the hot guy they asked for afterwards. These sneaky techniques were effective, no doubt about it, because the first time I saw it, it didn't even cross my mind that I was being diverted from the actual point of the commercial. It took me several times watching it to realize this, not that I minded though, because it's an entertaining commercial.

I would have to say that State Farm commercials are one of the ones I don't mind coming on while I'm watching TV, because they always make me laugh. They're also not scary or violent, but that's beside the point. State Farm has the capability to satisfy our need to feel safe, but also manage to throw in a little fun by diverting our attention to some humor. Even though it is funny for most of us, it does turn our attention away from what State Farm is about. It moves us away from considering whether or not State Farm is a good insurance, because it goes right on with something afterwards. At the end of the day, we remember State Farm as "that funny commercial" instead of "that commercial that doesn't really prove that it's a reliable insurance company." Unfortunately, there are people who choose State Farm Insurance because they remember their commercials as "the funny one" and remember that State Farm is like a good neighbor. What's not to love? Even though we do laugh at the State Farm commercials, let's not fall into the trap of believing it is a good company just because it can magically summon hot guys and because it's like a good neighbor. Let's be critical when we watch their commercials, because even the best neighbor in the whole wide world isn't going to pop up out of thin air when you sing that catchy phrase.