State Farm cancels planned Super Bowl ad citing Los Angeles area wildfires

State Farm has abandoned its schedule to air a commercial during the upcoming Super Bowl, instead turning its focus on helping those impacted by the wildfires in Southern California.

“State Farm, State Farm agents, and our employees are all concentrated on helping customers impacted by the Southern California wildfires in the midst of this tragedy,” a business spokesperson said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY Thursday.

“Our claims force is the largest in the industry and we are bringing the packed scale and force of our catastrophe response teams to assist customers recover – whether they are on the ground in LA or across the country,” the statement reads.

“Our focus is firmly on providing back to the people of Los Angeles. We will not be advertising during the game as originally planned,” the business concluded in the statement.

The business says it serves more than 8 million customers in California, more than any other insurer, and has received over 7,400 home and auto claims. The business said the numbers are expected to continue to rise as residents profit to the area and assess damage. According to the insurer, it insures 250,000 homes and 880,000 automobiles in LA County alone.

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In 2023, State Farm announced it would no longer provide home insurance to recent California customers because of wildfire risks and an boost in construction costs.

At the period, the insurer said it made the selection because of “historic increases in construction costs outpacing expense boost, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure and a challenging reinsurance economy.”

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State Farm offers renewals to policyholders

In 2024, State Farm cut policies in the Santa Monica Mountains, resulting in 70% of customers in Pacific Palisades – about 1,600 homeowners – losing coverage, according to the recent York Times.

The business announced Wednesday it will propose renewals to residential policyholders affected by the wildfires. The selection applies to policies held by homeowners, owners of rental dwellings, and residential throng associations, including condominium associations.

Super Bowl ads

According to reporting from Front Office Sports, Fox was selling 30 seconds of ad period for about $7 million for Super Bowl LIX in recent Orleans, which is in line with the last two Super Bowls and only slightly higher than the 2022 game.

State Farm ran a 60-second spot in last year’s game that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. The ad won USA TODAY’s annual Super Bowl Ad Meter, a tool used to assess community view surrounding Super Bowl ads.

Gabe Hauari is a national trending information reporter at USA TODAY. You can pursue him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].