It is simply a goofy advertisement using an ’80s anthem as its vehicle. Yet Keegan-Michael Key believes there is a grander challenge within that.
The decorated comedian and actor will make his full-length Super Bowl commercial debut Feb. 8 when State Farm’s spot is beamed to an audience of more than 100 million people. And while Key built his career on a more specific fandom through comedic sketches on ‘Mad TV’ and ‘Key & Peele,’ appealing to the masses creates its own task.
“Somebody said a long time ago, ‘Generality is the enemy of all art.’ And that specificity is what makes art good,” Key tells USA TODAY Sports, evoking the words of 19th century Russian character actor and director Konstantin Stanislavski. “The challenge is how do you do something specific that is universal at the same time.
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“It sounds like they’re diametrically opposed, these two concepts, but that’s very often what people at an ad agency have to do. How do you reach the most amount of people with the most interesting, most salient material possible?
“I embrace that challenge.”
Key believes the audience will agree. He stars alongside fellow comedian Danny McBride as inept insurance agents aiming to reassure a disbelieving Hailee Stanfield that their agency – Halfway There Insurance – is on the level.
It doesn’t take long to figure out the significance of the insurance firm’s title, as Key and McBride launch into a rendition of Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ with the help of girl group Katseye.
“It is working multi-generationally, because you’re talking about an anthem everybody knows,” says Key. “It’s a perfect song because it’s one of the few songs where everybody in our society knows the song.
“It hits with Hailee, with Katseye, with me and Danny and with the song. It’s a really well-wrought concept.”
Key and Co. will aim to uphold State Farm’s typically robust Super Sunday showings, having claimed the top slot in USA TODAY’s Ad Meter ratings in 2024 on the strength of a reunion between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.
Key calls Jake From State Farm “one of the most iconic figures in the ad space,” and like the 2024 spot, the brand ambassador’s presence is limited. Instead, the heavy lifting is done by the ensemble.
It’s familiar territory for Key, a master of the absurd through his career of sketch comedy and public appearances, be it sending up President Obama or infiltrating Penn State’s spring football game to lampoon his lookalike, former coach James Franklin.
Key, who completed his MFA in theater at Penn State in 1996, might keep half an eye on Virginia Tech, after Franklin’s firing and subsequent hiring by the Hokies. While bummed to see his pal Franklin go, he’s bullish on the hiring of former Iowa State coach Matt Campbell.
“I thought he did a lot of wonderful things for that university and consider him a friend. And tried to support my alma mater as best I could in that regard,” Key says of Franklin. “I’m looking forward to Matt Campbell’s tenure, in that regard. He did wonderful things at Iowa State, and I think he’s going to bring a culture in that will be really good. Time will tell, but I think he was an absolutely wonderful pick.
“Not a middle-of-the-road pick; I think our AD took a swing and we’re looking at a standup double, if not a triple.”
Key can only hope for the same on Super Sunday. The cuts are in and the spot will roll and only then will Key discover how well it hit with the masses.
“The nerves are there,” he says. “I’m excited, I’m nervous, but I have to tell you: I feel very confident about this piece of content.”
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