Although at first glance the ad is pretty offensive to bike commuters, I really like StreetsBlog’s take on it, that it can also be seen as subversive:

Analysis: Biking to work — the humiliation! But not really. This advertisement is actually highly subversive. The actor is so stiff and unconvincing, the commercial almost feels like a hostage video. The poor guy is reading his lines straight into the camera but he doesn’t really seem to believe what he’s saying. And that bizarre red carpet he’s standing on — it fully eliminates any sense of verité. It confirms that this is scripted, staged and not necessarily to be believed.

Meanwhile, on the subliminal level you’re looking at Jim’s legs and body, just like Sheila the coworker was doing as she walked by, checking him out. Yeah, he’s dressed like a freak but he is also extremely fit, athletic and healthy. Sheila’s teasing him but that’s because she thinks Jim is hot. The idea flickers across your medial prefrontal cortext, that part of the brain the neuromarketers are always trying to get to, Hey, maybe I could get fit and healthy by biking to work like Jim. For $369 a year and whatever gas money I’d save by not driving I could buy a really nice bike. Until this State Farm ad interrupted the ballgame I was watching on TV, it never even occurred to me that I could bike to the office park.

“Start saving your way.” And thus idea is implanted: I’m going to start saving by biking to work every once in a while. Thanks, State Farm.