State Farm has been running the "Magic Jingle" advertising campaign for a while, in which customers are able to summon their agents out of thin air in times of crisis by singing the famous jingle: "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there."
What's been left unspoken—until now—is how weird the scene must be back in the State Farm offices, with agents constantly disappearing while chatting with colleagues.
This new spot from Translation looks at the campaign from the latter angle, comically checking in on disappearing agents in State Farm offices across the country. The spot was directed by Roman Coppola, with longtime David Fincher cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth handling DP duties.
"There really are endless jokes to make and directions to explore with the concept of teleportation," Translation creative director Nick Sonderup tells AdFreak. "We knew the spot worked because there were just so many ways to execute it. On the surface, the idea that a State Farm agent will be there no matter when you need them is only one part of the story. When you consider what those agents might be in the middle of when you sing the jingle, and they're summoned to your side—that's when it clicked and we knew things could get really fun."
"It's also a response to the way the 'Magic Jingle' campaign has become part of culture," adds Patty Morris, State Farm marketing director of brand content. (Indeed, just look at all the "Magic Jingle" parodies on Vine.)"We've seen so many terrific user-generated parodies and creative ways of approaching the idea. We took the opportunity to rethink it ourselves, and the result was a completely fresh piece of creative that stays true to our original strategy."
CREDITS
Client: State Farm
Campaign Title: "State Farm Magic Jingle"
Spot Title: "Magic Jingle Disappearing Agents"
First Air Date: Jan. 10, 2015
Agency: Translation
Founder, CEO: Steve Stoute
Chief Creative Officer: John Norman
Creative Directors: Nick Sonderup, Andy Grant
Art Director: Allison Bulow
Copywriter: Jameson Rossi
Partner, Strategy: John McBride
Director of Content Production: Miriam Franklin
Director of Business Management: Thalia Tsouros
Vice President, Account Director: Susanna Swartley
Account Supervisor: Sara Daino
Assistant Account Executive: Jake Thorndike
Producer: Andy Murillo
Junior Producer: Kristen Cooler
Production: The Directors Bureau
Director: Roman Coppola
Director of Photography: Jeff Cronenweth
Managing Director, Executive Producer: Lisa Margulis
Executive Producer, Head of Production: Elizabeth Minzes
Producer: Mary Livingston
Editing Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Carlos Arias
Assistant Editor: Alexandra Debricon
Post Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum
Post Producer: Lisa Barnable
Visual Effects Company: The Mill
Visual Effects Artists: Gavin Wellsman, Jeff Butler
Visual Effects Executive Producer: Boo Wong
Visual Effects Producer: Colin Moneymaker
Audio Post: Heard City
Mixers: Keith Reynaud, Mike Vitacco
Executive Producer: Gloria Pitagorsky
Producer: Sasha Awn
Sound Design: Henryboy
Sound Designer: Bill Chesley
Executive Producer: Kate Gibson
Original Music: Beacon Street
Composers: Andrew Feltenstein, John Nau
Executive Producers: Adrea Lavezzoli, Leslie Dilullo
Media: OMD
State Farm
Marketing Director, Brand Content: Patty Morris
Advertising Manager: Troy Johnson
Marketing Analysts, Mass Media Brand Content: Christine Williams, Jeff Greeneberg