In 2024, State Farm and Highdive teamed up with Arnold Schwarzenegger to create the year’s top performing Super Bowl ad, but before the Arnold announcement was made, all agencies participated in a jump-ball to come up with the right tactic to tease the Arnold connection to State Farm.

Our small FleishmanHillard team won the jump-ball with “Jacked Jake,” which called for Jake from State Farm to meet Arnold on his home turf, the iconic Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach, CA, for a buddy workout.

Knowing that the area is already a hot-spot for the paparazzi, we staged the workout session and let the internet do it’s thing. We also had a photographer of our own on site, to capture the hero stills that were pitched to media outlets, and eventually used on The Tonight Show, with Arnold as the guest.

As a result, FleishmanHillard was named State Farm’s PR / Earned Creative agency without an RFP.