State Farm axes Super Bowl spot, citing focus on ongoing Los Angeles wildfires

Insurance company State Farm has canceled plans to air a spot during Super Bowl 59, citing the ongoing fires in Los Angeles as the company’s primary focus.

State Farm, the largest insurer in California, covers 250,000 homes in Los Angeles County and 880,000 cars and other vehicles. As of Friday, it had received more than 8,300 claims for homes and vehicles and had disbursed more than $50 million to customers in the aftermath of the fires, State Farm said in a release.

“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. … 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,” State Farm told Ad Age.

The company also paused non-renewals for existing residential community association, rental dwelling and homeowner policies across Los Angeles County, effective on Jan. 7. County customers will be able to renew their policies for another term, and those in the fire zone who suffered a total loss will be allowed to renew for two more terms as required by law.

The insurance company stopped issuing business and personal property and casualty insurance in California in May 2023, though it continued to offer car insurance. 

In March 2024, State Farm decided not to renew 30,000 policies held by California homeowners, business owners, rental home owners and residential community associations, along with 42,000 policies held by owners of apartment buildings.

The axed TV commercial would have followed up on the Super Bowl 58 ad featuring “Agent State Farm,” a hero portrayed by former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to Ad Age.