State Farm Halts Super Bowl Ad, Delays Severance Campaign as LA Fires Rage

State Farm canceled plans to run an ad during Super Bowl 59 and suspended filming of a campaign with a tie-in to the Apple TV+ drama Severance as the Los Angeles wildfires continue to burn.

The Super Bowl announcement would be State Farm’s second consecutive year in the game. Last year’s ad, created by Highdive and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVitotook first place in 2023 USA Today Ad Meter.

A spokesperson confirmed to ADWEEK on Wednesday that the 2025 Super Bowl venue will not be moving forward: “Our focus is firmly on providing support to the people of Los Angeles. We will not advertise during the game.”

State Farm also delayed the launch of a tie-in with the Apple TV+ drama, Severance, due to the fires. This campaign is expected to drop later in the run of the sci-fi thriller.

While the second season of the show debuts on Friday, Apple canceled its red carpet premiere party in Los Angeles on Monday night after the devastating fires. Jake from State Farm had been scheduled to attend, in the last appearance in the real world for the character.

On Friday afternoon, State Farm released a statement stating “Our number one priority right now is the safety of our customers, agents and employees affected by the fires and assisting our customers in the midst of this tragedy.”

State Farm said it is almost 7,000 claims linked to guns, which continue to burn as changing winds feeds the flames. The company serves more than 8 million customers in California.

“Our claims force is the largest in the industry and we bring the full scale and strength of our disaster response teams to help clients recover, whether on the ground in LA or across the country.” said the spokesman. “We have received more than 7,400 home and auto claims, and are putting tens of millions of dollars back into the hands of customers. These numbers will continue to rise as residents return and assess the damage.”

However, critics have noted that the insurer could process many more claims if it did not cancel thousands of policies last spring in places including Pacific Palisades – one of the areas most affected by the fires.