That Jake from State Farm seems like a nice boy, doesn’t he? Well, not after this he won’t. This week’s Saturday Night Live host Michael B. Jordan skewers the beloved insurance spokesman in a commercial parody that goes from funny to terrifying in fairly short order.
The sketch begins like a regular commercial: Jake from State Farm shows up at the home of a couple played by Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner after some minor domestic disaster. Day goes to work and when he returns that evening, finds Jake still there, playing with the kids and flirting with his wife.
What follows is your standard boy meets girl, boy loses girl to endearing insurance mascot, insurance mascot replaces son as husband and father, boy is slowly driven mad and forced to sleep on the couch. You know, that old herd.
In fact, it’s pretty well-trodden comedy ground. Take innocuous family-friendly property, turn it into horror — and is there anything more innocent than TV characters selling insurance? But Jordan’s dedication to terrifying, intense stalker Jake, along with the requisite “Bundle Home & Auto” and “Rate Match” graphics from a legitimate State Farm ad, really help set this parody apart. You’ll never see a State Farm polo shirt the same way again.
The sketch also features cameos from other TV insurance icons; Andrew Dismukes swoops in to save the day as one. Which begs the question: Why is there a reality show about guys slapping each other, but no show about Flo from Progressive, Mayhem from Allstate, the AFLAC Duck and the rest battling it out in the Octagon to decide who’s the best don’t have coverage?
The commercial parody wasn’t the only moment first-time host Jordan shined. During his opening monologue, the actor joked about his early start All My Children and a recent breakup.
Watch the sketch embedded above, then weigh in on MBJ’s hosting debut.
