Who is the guy from state farm

Who is the guy from state farm

When it comes to marketing a business or product, commercials are one of the most effective forms of advertising. It’s important for them to be engaging enough to keep viewers interested, otherwise they run the risk of potential customers changing the channel and not responding to the commercial’s call to action. When most companies find an effective or popular formula with their advertising, they tend to milk it for all it’s worth. Of course, you can’t do the same thing every time and expect different results, so most companies also try to build a series of commercials that utilize their popular premise in a variety of different scenarios. From the Geico Gecko to Flo from Progressive, companies have used their marketing mascots to create quirky 30-second scenes that are about as iconic as Popeye and spinach.

Over the past few years, no mascot has become more popular than Jake from State Farm. It all started in 2011, when State Farm released an ad that found an agent trying to assist a customer at 3:00 in the morning. The purpose of the commercial was to convey that State Farm was always accessible to their customers, even in the wee hours of the morning. However, the commercial decided to add a creative and comedic twist.

A male customer is seen sneakily walking around his living room as he whispers to a State Farm agent named Jake about his insurance options. The man’s irate wife comes downstairs and immediately accuses her husband of talking to another woman before grabbing the phone to rip the agent a new one. Never once considering that her husband is actually talking to a State Farm agent whose name is actually Jake, the wife mocks the agent and demands to know what he’s wearing. To this, Jake simply replies, “Uh…khakis?”

The line became an instant hit with audiences, prompting State Farm to run it for several years before deciding to expand the storyline in 2019. In the original commercial, Jake from State Farm was an actual State Farm employee whose real name was Jake and who had won a company audition to be in the commercial. Although the character still carries his name, the original Jake was not a trained actor, so when State Farm finally decided to capitalize on the character’s popularity, they decided to go in a more professional direction.

Thus, the company hired aspiring actor Kevin Mimms, who is now the current “Jake from State Farm” agent. The company even used old footage from their original ad and inserted new footage of Mimms reciting the infamous “khakis” line to capitalize on the commercial one last time before “rebooting” Jake’s character.

Since then, Mimms has been featured in numerous State Farm ads over the past three years and has quickly become just as recognizable as his peers Gecko and Flo. With so much popularity, Mimms has got to be getting paid a pretty penny, right? Just how much does he make for playing the likable agent?

According to A Lot Living, Mimms’ salary for State Farm has yet to be disclosed. However, it’s reported that his net worth is somewhere between $100,000 and $1.2 million. Broken down, it could be argued that Mimms is possibly getting paid $10,000 to $15,000 per commercial, plus royalties, but that would be more of a speculative guess. Then again, with Mimms being an aspiring actor and a smaller name in  entertainment, these figures might not be that far-fetched.

Regardless of what he’s getting paid, there’s no disputing that Kevin Mimms isn’t doing too bad for himself for a guy whose face has only been seen 30 seconds at a time for the last three years.

For the 2020 Super Bowl, State Farm Insurance rebooted one of its most successful TV commercials: "Jake from State Farm." The original spot shows a wife catching her husband on the phone in the middle of the night, talking to their insurance agent. The star of the original TV commercial was a real State Farm employee, per Medium. In the 2020 reboot commercial, they replaced the employee, so whatever happened to the original "Jake from State Farm?"

The Jake 2020 commercial has been a huge hit for the insurance company, with hottie actor Kevin Miles playing Jake. The reboot commercial went viral, spawning new situations for Jake. Miles has co-starred in commercials with Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Paul Rudd, and even Drake. Twitter went wild over the 2021 State Farm Super Bowl commercial featuring Drake as the stand-in for "Jake from State Farm."

So, why did the insurance company replace Jake? If you're worried about what happened to the original "Jake from State Farm," keep scrolling to find out more.

The original 'Jake from State Farm' is still around

Jake Stone, an actual State Farm Insurance agent, played "Jake from State Farm" in the 2011 commercial, per Medium. To nab the role, Stone, who was just 26 at the time, responded to a casting call for employees.

In the State Farm Insurance 2020 reboot commercial, the husband and wife bicker about the phone call, but there's a new Jake on the other end of the phone. Jake 2.0 asks his co-worker, "Hey, do they ever ask you what you're wearing?" Then, viewers see Stone, the original Jake, pop up and answer, "Uh, yeah." The genius move to include Stone shows the company didn't forget the original Jake.

In a 2014 interview with The Pantagraph, it was revealed that Stone had quit his part-time job as an agent two years prior "to become a seasonal employee for the town of Normal while keeping his bartending job." In the interview, the original Jake revealed that his life didn't change much after he starred in the popular commercial, revealing that aside from the occasional fan photo and request to say, "Uh, khakis," he's still "putting on his khakis, one leg at a time."

That being said, the commercial is still undoubtedly a cultural phenomenon. 

The real reason the original Jake from State Farm was replaced

The original "Jake from State Farm" helped make the insurance company TV campaign into a cultural phenomenon, so why did the company replace Jake Stone? It turns out that the new Jake needed to be more of an actor and spokesperson for the company. 

State Farm Assistant VP of Marketing Patti Morris talked to Muse about why the company switched to a new Jake. Morris told the outlet that Stone "did great at delivering his famous line, 'Uh ... khakis.' However, this expanded role is very demanding, and is best filled by a professional actor."

When the company re-upped the "Jake from State Farm" ad campaign in 2020, the idea was to have the new Jake take a more active role. Morris told Muse that in the new campaign, "Consumers will see Jake in culturally relevant moments, being his usual helpful self... tapping into things that are contextually relevant with our audiences."

Plus, since the original Jake is no longer an insurance company employee, it makes perfect sense that State Farm would replace him with an actor.

New Jake went from sleeping in his car to working with Drake

Kevin Miles, the new "Jake from State Farm," has a story that could only happen in Hollywood. According to Forbes, Miles went from sleeping in his car when he first moved to Los Angeles to become a star in commercials, working with Drake!

Miles won't have to sleep in his car anymore because now he is a celebrity. Variety reported that "Jake from State Farm" has more star power than some well-known celebrities. According to Marketing Arm research, via Variety, "more people are aware of Jake than they are of Katie Couric or Hilary Swank." Variety reported that the Celebrity DBI database shows the State Farm character has a high positivity rate, which means "more than 80% of people who are aware of him find him appealing — putting him on par with Leslie Jones, Tyler Perry, and David Schwimmer."

But Miles is taking his celebrity profile in stride. Before his role as "Jake," Miles had appeared in SWAT and Criminal Minds; and he did ads for Hyundai, Slim Jim, and Pepsi.

Getting into the "Jake from State Farm" character is not hard. Miles told Variety, "I think of the times that I have been there, either in hard times or in happy times, the feeling I get when I'm around my loved ones."

Who is the guy in State Farm commercial?

State Farm is rolling out a new series of ads touting its Personal Price Plan, and Mahomes and Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers are both featured in three solo commercials.

How much do Jake from State Farm make?

Jake from State Farm Salary And the Jake state farm salary is $10,000 to $15,000 per commercial as per the available source. Actor Kevin Miles has appeared as Jake in marketing a reputed insurance company of the USA.

Who is new guy with Jake from State Farm?

The low-key cool of 'Jake, From State Farm' has actor Kevin Miles superstarring.

Who is the actor in the latest State Farm commercial?

Since that time, actor Kevin Miles has taken over as Jake from Jake Stone, the actual State Farm agent that responded to a casting call to land the role and his iconic line about wearing khakis (via The Pantagraph).