Jake from State Farm all you need to know.

Every year there are memorable television commercials that air during the Super Bowl. In 2011 during the big game, a really cute ad aired for the State Farm Insurance company. A wife catches her husband on the phone at 3:00 AM and when she asks who he is talking to he replies “ Jake from State Farm". The unbelieving spouse takes the phone and asks Jake what is wearing. When he replied “Khaki’s the wife says that ‘she’ sounds hideous, assuming Jake is a woman trying to disguise her voice. The man in the role of Jake, the State Farm representative initially was Jake Stone an actual employee of State Farm in Normal Illinois. He won the role after answering a casting call.

The humorous husband and wife in the ad were portrayed by Justin Campbell and Melanie Deanne Paxton and the commercial quickly became popular. The Insurance company. however, replaced Stone who is white with African American actor Kevin Mimms and television viewers took note. If you were wondering about the tale of the two Jakes, here are some answers. State Farm says the original Jake "did great at delivering his famous line, 'Uh … khakis'" but they decided to take the character in a different direction. Patti Morris, the assistant marketing director at State Farm has revealed that the expanded role of Jake is very demanding and much better served by using a professional actor.

Morris was accurate as there are now multiple commercials with Jake from State Farm. Jake Stone needing to work a regular job for a living would not have given him the time to put into the commercials as Kevin Mimms is able to. Mimms does this type of work for a living and has the availability for the rehearsals. This is no reflection on Stone who did do a great job. My guess is that State Farm wanted to capitalize on the popularity of "Jake" and that hilarious first ad and needed someone they could work with on a regular basis. I also think that Melanie Paxon and Justin Campbell played well off of each other and should do more work together.

Stone actually left his job at State Farm shortly after the commercial began airing and was surprised to find that he had suddenly become a celebrity. He says he was stopped often by people seeking to take photos with him and or asking him to repeat his famous line “Uh… khakis?” The actual khakis that were featured in the commercial are now hanging on the wall at a bar called Pub II, where Jake Stone began working after he left the Insurance company. A few years back there was a false report on the Internet that Stone’s wife had caught him with another woman and shot him to death.

If Kevin Mimms seems familiar it’s because he had roles in Innocent in 2010, Lap Dance in 2014 and S.W.A.T in 2017. Statefarm now has a number of commercials with Mimms including one where Jake Stone portrays his neighbor. Viewers are also loving the "Parker promo" where Parker, the pizza delivery girl loads Jake up on bonus food because she believes his most recent ad was personally designed just for her. There is also an add that has been airing with Alphonso Ribiera who is best known as Carlton Banks from the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

It seems that all of the big Insurance companies are advertising in unique, and humorous ways to get the attention of the viewing public. Allstate's latest has Dennis Haysbert in a restaurant where everyone recognizes him for his famous line, "Safe drivers save 40% and everyone who sees him, repeats thsi phrase rather than calling him by name or mentioning Allstate. Geico has released several new commercials with people as opposed to their famous Gecko. Out of them all, at least at this current time, it seems that "Jake from State Farm" is reigning supreme. Kevin Mimms plays the part as a soft-spoken salesperson who does not allow anyone to veer him away from the selling points of the insurance company. Stay tuned to your television set to find out what Jake comes up with next.