Insurance giant State Farm has canceled a Super Bowl ad that was scheduled to air during the big game in February. Part of the reason is the wildfires raging in California.
“We remain firmly focused on providing support to the people of Los Angeles. As originally planned, we will not run advertising during games,” a spokesperson said in an email to The Hill on Friday. said in a statement.
The insurance company, which serves more than 8 million customers in California, said its agents and other employees were “affected by the Southern California wildfires in the midst of this tragedy.” We are all focused on helping our customers.”
The average cost of a 30-second commercial for Super Bowl LVI in 2022 was $6.5 million. According to the 2024 report According to market research company Kantar. In 2024, the cost of these ads amounted to $7 million.
State Farm said in a statement that it has received more than 8,300 home and auto insurance claims related to the Los Angeles fires and has “recovered well over $50 million in the hands of customers.”
“This number will continue to rise as residents return and assess the damage,” a State Farm spokesperson said.
In late May 2023, State Farm announced it would stop providing real estate and home insurance to new customers in California, citing “historic increases in construction costs that outpace inflation, rapidly increasing catastrophe risks, and “A difficult reinsurance market.”
Aside from State Farm, other insurance companies are also reducing coverage in California, in part because of rising rehabilitation costs and higher payouts.
A State Farm spokesperson said: “Our claims force is the largest in the industry and we combine the full strength of our large-scale disaster response teams to help our customers recover, whether they are on the ground in Los Angeles or across the country. Regardless of the situation.”
