State Farm's "Journey"

I found myself chuckling again the other night at the State Farm "Journey" commercial.  In the ad, a State Farm agent is on the phone with a customer telling him how accessible they are as a company.  This leads to the following exchange:

"You name it , we're here, anytime, anywhere, any way you want it."

"That's the way I need it."

"Anyway you want it."

"All Night?"

"All Night."

"Every Night?"

"Anyway you want it."

The early 40's male customer on the line then enlightens anyone who wasn't quite getting the exchange.

"We just had ourselves a little Journey moment there."

"Yup."

I love how this is presented.  It speaks to me (I also saw them in '83 - just not in Fresno), I certainly know the lyric and it hits the target on how accessible State Farm is as a company - online, on the phone, through an app, 24/7, etc.  And they do it in such a way that no one is made to look stupid or foolish - unlike their ad where the husband is on the phone with an agent at 3 a.m. when his wife "catches" him talking to (who she thinks) is another woman.  The other bonus here is that even though this ad may not be targeted to kids, because of the rejuvenated success of "Don't Stop Believing" over the last several years, even my kids recognized the audio tag at the end as Journey.  State Farm reached the kids and me - whether they meant to or not.

It got me to thinking on how State Farm could build off of this concept.  Carly Rae Jepsen has everyone from Jimmy Fallon and USA Miss America contestants to Barak Obama and the Abercrombie & Fitch guys covering her hit single "Call me Maybe."  With that in mind - I began to search for different lyrics that might be able to take the concept to the next chapter.  Instead of covering one song - State farm could use lyrics from both new and established artists to move the campaign into a series.  They are the lead sponsor on the Enrique and J-Lo tour this summer featuring Wisin & Yandel - maybe there is some fun to be had there as well. 

 

On the other hand, would "Call Me Maybe" work here in some way?  You never know when you will need the help of your insurance company - and if it's a new relationship and State Farm wants their customers to feel comfortable - then this could be an option.

"Hey, I just met you and this is crazy,
But here's my number so call me maybe
It's hard to look right at you baby,
But here's my number so call me maybe"

I would also have to think that if a customer is calling State Farm - it usually isn't because something good has happened.  Life is tough - but State Farm is there to help.  So possibly Bruce Springsteen could lend a lyric or two?

"The times are tough now, just getting tougher
This old world is rough, it's just getting rougher
Cover me, come on baby, cover me"

Or to change up the demographics, a straight forward message from Blondie could do the trick. 

"Call me (call me) on the line
Call me, call me any, any anytime
Call me(call me) I'll arrive
You can call me any day or night
Call me!"

The Journey lyric and exchange in the State Farm commercial opens up so many possibilities.  They need to be a direct fit and not feel forced but I am sure there are plenty of State Farm customers out there that have ideas and lyrics they could contribute.  And if they don't like that idea - maybe agents from across the country do their own video snippets to "Call me Maybe" and join the craze.  Whatever the choice - have fun with it. 

I am just wondering what obvious lyrics I have not thought of yet...