From Translation comes the second installment of the Chris Paul/Cliff Paul State Farm saga, which will make its TV debut tomorrow night.
If you recall, Episode I (the entire premise of which rested on a pun about the word “assist”) premiered during the NBA’s Christmas Day games. This obviously isn’t the first time we’ve seen a professional athlete star in State Farm campaigns, but what Translation realizes that DDB Chicago doesn’t is that having a professional athlete actually attempt to deliver lines and, well, “act” isn’t the best idea. I’m a Packers fan through and through, which is why it made me so unbelievably uncomfortable to watch Aaron Rodgers totally bomb during those “Discount Double-Check” ads. Seriously, the dude was out-acted by a bunch of preschoolers.
Unless you have Blake Griffin or Peyton Manning at your disposal, just dress up your professional athlete in funny clothes, offer 3-5 variations of the site gag, and don’t ever give them lines. Hey look, it’s Chris, er, Cliff Paul wearing funny glasses and a dapper suit and an argyle sweater. Haha, so silly. See how easy that was? Now I want to watch more. Credits after the jump.
Client: State Farm
Agency: Translation
Chief Executive Officer: Steve Stoute
Chief Creative Officer: Chris Cereda
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Emily Sander
Associate Creative Director, Art Direction: Danielle Thornton
Copywriter: Jamie Cohen
Executive Producer: Peter Ostella
Group Account Director: Ben Gladstone
Account Director: Susanna Swartley
Account Supervisor: Susan Min
Brand Strategist: John McBride
Head of Content Production: Miriam Franklin
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Craig Gillespie
Executive Producer: Emma Wilcockson
Line Producer: Line Postymr
Director of Photography: Gyula Pados