State Farm seems to be suffering from a severe case of Hollywood Sequel-itis. The symptoms are simple: you have a surprisingly successful first run. You immediately put the sequel into production, making sure to pile on all the things that made the first one such a hit, without any regard to how the actual sequel may or may not be benefiting from that. Think Men In Black II. That little talking dog’s single scene in the first one must’ve tested quite well, because he becomes a major supporting character in the sequel, to the film’s (and audience’s) detriment.
So here, State Farm had a charming little spot in which Jerry calls Jessica. Here it is. So they made another one, this one, which has the same characters, but is totally forced and uninspired. Jessica just blurts out company policy, poor thing.
Then we have the first Aaron Rodgers Discount Double-Check spot. Simple, funny, “I’m a robot!” So they had to make another one, above. Same joke, same cast (why are those same two people back in the office again?), same Cheesehead outside with the same final joke. It’s a crappy carbon copy of the first one.
It’s a succinct example of how Hollywood pumps out the More-of-the-Same sequels, and why they’re never as good as the first.
