State Farm's Jake Makes the Super Bowl with Drake — But Just Who is Jake?
There was a surprise cameo in State Farm's SuperBowl commercial. In the 30-second spot "quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers are backstage of a State Farm commercial along with Jake from State Farm discussing stand-in actors," reports USAToday.
The commercial opens with Rodgers complaining that his stand-in looks nothing like him. "Have you seen mine?" Mahomes asks the quarterback, before the camera cut to actor Paul Rudd wearing the same clothes as the Kansas City Chiefs player. "It's like looking in a mirror, right?" Rudd says as he drops a football.
Jake, played by actor Kevin Mills, laments, "Look guys, I don't even have one," before he learns that rapper Drake is his. The rapper then introduces himself to Jake by saying, "I'm Drake, from State Farm," before being joined Jake to simultaneously say the product's iconic punch line: "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." As they fumble with their delivery, Jake admonishes Drake: "Hey stand-ins don't have lines," before delivering the final line while Drake stands by silently eating an apple.
Jake, played by actor Kevin Miles (aka Kevin Mimms), was made the face of the insurance giant last year in a series of popular ads. Keen viewers noticed that Miles was the second Jake in State Farm commercials. Jake was initially played by State Farm employee Jake Stone who won the role in a company-wide contest in 2013. The first commercial featured a middle-aged man in pajamas speaking on the phone to State Farm at 3am. It certainly appears strange to his wife who interrupts him demanding to know whom he speaking with, taking the phone and speaking to Jake. Hearing him, she says, "she sounds hideous," to which her husband replies, "that's because he's a man."
The spot was popular with State Farm even dedicating a portion of their website to Jake, wrote Jordan Fraser in Medium last year. But then came a backlash. "The punchline of the commercial 'she sounds hideous' became a point of contention for the transgender community, who were upset at the implication that a deep voice indicated a hideous woman," wrote Medium.
The original spot was recut with the punchline taken out with Miles as the new Jake replacing old one. The offending line was also removed in the new version. Stone made an appearance in the ad's reboot as Jake's colleague in an adjacent cube.
The reason why Jake was replaced was explained to Muse by State Farm assistant vp of marketing Patti Morris: "However, this expanded role is very demanding, and is best filled by a professional actor."
Since last February there have been numerous new State Farm commercials with Miles each following the same idea: a State Farm customer thanks Jake for their great insurance rates, to which Jake tells them that it is something that anyone can access them.
There was, nonetheless, some pushback against the new Jake. Last May Medium wrote: "The remade version of the commercial starring Mimms (Miles) currently has more dislikes on YouTube than likes, and a lot of angry comments to match."
Some have speculated the change was made for diversity reasons. "The new Jake is black, which is the most obvious indicator for seeing this as a diversity casting. Others speculate that this decision isn't race motivated, that it's about sexual orientation," writes Medium's Fraser.
"The theory is that the new Jake is gay, which is something I've been unable to confirm after some light Googling."
What there is to know about Miles is that he is from the Chicago area, studied at the Chicago Academy for Dramatic Arts before receiving a BFA in theater from Webster University. He has been a working actor since 2010 and has appeared on such shows as "S.W.A.T." and "Criminals Minds," as well as numerous commercials for T-Mobile, Hyundai, Taco Bell, and McDonalds. He is also a DJ under the name of Kevin Mimms. And aside from work-related projects, he has a limited social media presence.
On his Instagram Miles calls himself "Mr. Big Dreams." Check out these pics from his feed: