Hasta La Creative!

State Farm used to be such a good neighbor. You never heard a peep out of the insurance giant, except for its cloying Barry Manilow-composed commercial jingle, which was “iconic,” I guess, so we had to put up with it. Now, the company is courting young adults via a soon-to-be-revamped NowWhat.com, backing the Mountain Dew-fueled mayhem of the AST action-sports tour, and hosting “After-Dark parties featuring live musical performances that will stream live on NowWhat.com throughout the ’08 Dew Tour season.” This sounds raucous and not really what you want in a neighbor. For those who find even Barry too rocking, here’s a vintage pre-Manilow State Farm spot with a decided decaffeinated car-insurance jingle. Bands on the live streams should be required to play their interpretations.

—Posted by David Gianatasio