Mascots are nothing new in the advertising world, used by brands (particularly in the food and beverage sectors) to be more memorable with audiences. In today’s Internet age, however, mascot relatability is entering “unhinged” territory as brainrot aesthetics have taken over the digital realm. From the Duolingo owl to McDonald’s’ Grimace, modern mascots are helping brands develop youthful identities and engage new audiences by embracing irreverence and risk. However, there is at least one mascot-heavy sector where absurdism (and character murder) could be considered a step too far: the insurance industry.
For decades, US insurance companies have used mascots to bring humor to their brand identities and ads. The Geico Gecko arguably kicked off the funny insurance mascot trend after it was introduced in 1999, but today he has many peers. Fellow animal mascots like the Aflac Duck and the Liberty Mutual Emu lend their respective ads an air of zaniness. Meanwhile, human mascots like Progressive’s Flo and Dr. Rick, Allstate’s Mayhem, and Jake from State Farm seem geared to relate to Millennials. But as other sectors lean into irreverence and wackiness, what is working for companies selling decidedly serious services and products? We used our social listening and analytics solution to learn more about which insurance mascot is winning the online popularity contest and why.
Which insurance mascot was mentioned most on TV?
Broadcast television and radio mentions of insurance company mascots from May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025.
Assuming that US audiences primarily meet insurance company mascots via broadcast channels like television, Jake from State Farm is likely the one they hear about most often. From May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025, there were about 144,000 broadcast mentions of the fictional Millennial spokesperson. These included State Farm commercials as well as organic mentions in the course of conversation on local news programs and radio shows, not to mention a joke on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
Broadcast television and radio mentions of insurance company mascots over time from May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025.
Jake’s TV mentions were particularly high during the 2024 NCAA college football championships as State Farm ads aired during the games. The spiked highest on November 16 when multiple teams faced off in the playoffs, including the highly-watched rivals from Tennessee and Georgia. The furthest reaching ad aired that night on ESPN, reaching an estimated 2.04 million viewers.
However, Jake wasn’t solely just speaking to football fans in November and December 2024, he was also making appearances between popular holiday programming. On his second-biggest day for mentions, a week later on November 23, an ad starring Jake that aired during the Hallmark Channel’s Three Wiser Men and a Boy movie reached an estimated 3.36 million viewers. So did TV visibility translate into social media conversation?
Which insurance mascot is most popular on social media?
Mentions of insurance company mascots from May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025 across 17 social media sources, including X, Reddit, Bluesky, and YouTube.
Our analysis found that Jake from State Farm is overwhelmingly social media’s favorite insurance company mascot to discuss. From May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025, he was mentioned more than 33,700 times across social media. The second most popular mascot, Flo from Progressive, generated about a quarter of the mentions that Jake did.
Mentions of insurance company mascots over time from May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025 across 17 social media sources, including X, Reddit, Bluesky, and YouTube.
Social mentions of the State Farm character played by actor Kevin Miles have spiked multiple times since the beginning of 2025. These occurred due to everything from viral memes on X (including a resurfaced clip of actor Michael B. Jordan parodying Jake in a 2023 Saturday Night Live skit) to State Farm’s recent campaign with mega-influencer Kai Cenat. However, those mention surges lack in comparison to Flo from Progressive’s viral moment on September 18, 2024. This was thanks in large part to a viral post on X that mentioned Flo in the course of making fun of another post on X from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Still, even though Flo saw the biggest spike in discussion, it wasn’t enough to unseat Jake as the leading US insurance mascot on social media. Overall, the data shows that Jake has achieved what most company mascots aspire to — becoming a well-liked part of pop culture.
Takeaways for marketers
Jake from State Farm’s prominence on social media is linked to his prominence in key broadcast moments, but more importantly his proximity to celebrity. Unlike most of its competitors, State Farm has spent years positioning Jake alongside celebrity influencers like Jimmy Fallon, Caitlin Clark, and most recently Kai Cenat, Jason Bateman, and SZA. Plus, the character’s IRL appearances alongside celebrities at high-profile sporting events feeds into the illusion that Jake is a real guy. This has allowed the company to not only take part in pop culture conversations but insert itself into them with trusted co-signers. Jake from State Farm alone may not be able to convince Gen Z that he is cool, but his on-camera friend Kai Cenat surely can. In an industry where trust is paramount, State Farm has found a way to remain relevant and drive social media visibility and engagement via a mascot that seems more like an influencer than an insurance agent.
