Jake from State Farm in red polo and khakis on the phone at his office desk

Jake from State Farm

2011catchphraseclassic

Published September 2, 2026

Jake from State Farm is the deadpan catchphrase and character born from a 2011 State Farm insurance commercial in which a wife wrongly accuses her husband of cheating during a 3 a.m. phone call to his agent1. The bit hinges on the punchline 'uh, khakis' delivered by a real call-center employee, and it later got name-checked by rapper Fabolous on a 2014 DJ Mustard track2.

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Overview

The joke works because the 'evidence' the wife demands, what Jake is actually wearing, produces the least incriminating answer possible: office pants1. Online, the character got repurposed as a stock alibi people invoke whenever they need a suspiciously boring cover story, in line with Urban Dictionary's definition of what you say when a jealous partner asks who you were out with until three in the morning4.

State Farm leaned into the popularity with follow-up commercials, promotional stunts, and an in-character @JakeStateFarm social account run in Jake's voice5. The character stayed a company mascot long enough to get name-dropped in music, notably by rapper Fabolous on the DJ Mustard track '4 Digits'2.

Origin & Background

Platform
TV commercial (viral spread on YouTube and Twitter)
Creator
State Farm
Date
2011

State Farm first aired the commercial in June 2011 as part of the company's 'Get to a Better State' campaign3. The scene opens with a husband on a hushed 3 a.m. phone call; his wife accuses him of talking to another woman, snatches the phone, and demands to know what 'Jake' is wearing, at which point the shot cuts to a call center where the agent quietly answers 'uh, khakis'1. Part of what gave the ad a longer tail was that the role was played by an actual State Farm call-center employee, Jake Stone of Normal, Illinois; WMBD-TV identified him on September 7, 2011, and The Pantagraph covered his double life at the local bar Pub II both that year and again in an April 2014 follow-up when the on-screen khakis got framed on the wall3.

How It Spread

State Farm launched the in-character @JakeStateFarm Twitter account in February 2013 to keep the bit alive online5. In 2014 the company released a follow-up spot sending the same couple to a marriage counselor over the 'Jake' fight6. On August 11, 2014, rapper DJ Mustard's album 10 Summers dropped with the track '4 Digits,' where Fabolous name-checks 'Jake from State Farm' in his verse2.

In April and May 2015, State Farm rebooted the character with the #TuneInEarthlings hashtag campaign, including a version co-starring characters from the Coneheads movie7. Away from the ads, 'Jake from State Farm' turned into online shorthand for a comically obvious fake alibi, with Urban Dictionary logging the phrase as what you say when a jealous partner grills you about a late-night phone call4.

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How to Use This Meme

People typically drop 'Jake from State Farm' as an obviously fake alibi when someone asks who they were texting, calling, or hanging out with at odd hours4. Extra points if you tag the answer with the 'uh, khakis' line from the original ad1.

Frequently Asked Questions