You know that feeling when a five-second jingle turns into a three-minute fever dream? That’s exactly what happened with we are farmers 3 loco, a track that basically redefined how we think about "viral" branded content before TikTok even existed to make it easy. It's weird. It’s loud. It’s undeniably catchy. Honestly, if you grew up on the internet in the early 2010s, those five notes—bum-ba-dum-bum-bum-bum-bum—are probably seared into your brain permanently.
But what actually is it?
Most people just remember the beat. They remember the absurdity. But the story behind how a massive insurance company’s slogan got hijacked by a group of comedic rappers is a wild case study in how internet culture eats corporate marketing for breakfast. It wasn't just a meme. It was a moment where the "walled garden" of professional advertising got smashed by the sledgehammer of Three Loco’s aggressive, nonsensical energy.
The Chaos Behind the We Are Farmers 3 Loco Track
To understand the madness, you have to look at the players involved. Three Loco wasn't your average rap group. It was a bizarre "supergroup" consisting of Andy Milonakis, Dirt Nasty (Simon Rex), and the polarizing Riff Raff.
Think about that lineup for a second.
You’ve got a former MTV sketch comedian, a former VJ turned actor/rapper, and the "Neon Icon" himself. When they dropped the we are farmers 3 loco remix in 2012, it didn't feel like a commercial. It felt like a prank that accidentally had high production value. Produced by Diplo—yes, that Diplo—under his Mad Decent label, the track took the simple Farmers Insurance jingle and turned it into a trap-heavy anthem of the absurd.
It starts with that familiar jingle. Then the bass kicks in.
It’s jarring. One second you're thinking about home insurance premiums and the next, Riff Raff is rapping about wearing "braids like a Celtic." It shouldn't work. By all accounts of music theory or marketing logic, it’s a disaster. Yet, it became a cultural touchstone because it leaned into the one thing corporate ads usually avoid: pure, unadulterated stupidity.
Why the Internet Lost Its Mind Over This
The genius of we are farmers 3 loco is that it didn't ask for permission.
Usually, when a brand gets parodied, there’s a cease and desist. But this was different. The track leveraged the "remix culture" of the early 2010s where nothing was sacred. At the time, Diplo was at the height of his power, blending indie sensibilities with mainstream electronic beats. By putting Three Loco on a track that sampled a corporate jingle, he created a "Trojan Horse" of a song.
People shared it because it was funny, but they stayed for the beat.
- The Milonakis Factor: Andy’s high-pitched delivery added a surreal layer to the track.
- The Visuals: The music video featured the trio in various states of farm-related chaos, wearing overalls and riding tractors, which contrasted perfectly with their "Hollywood" personas.
- The Jingle: Farmers Insurance has one of the most recognizable sonic logos in history. Exploiting it was a masterstroke of recognition.
Let’s be real: Farmers Insurance couldn't have paid for this kind of engagement. Or maybe they could have, but it would have felt "cringe" if it came from their official YouTube channel. Instead, by being an "unofficial" anthem, it gained street cred. It became the song you played at parties to see who would recognize the sample first.
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It was an early example of "earned media" before that was a buzzword everyone used in Zoom meetings.
The Production Magic of Diplo and Mad Decent
We can’t talk about we are farmers 3 loco without giving credit to the production. Diplo is a magpie. He finds shiny things in culture and builds nests out of them.
Sampling the Farmers Insurance jingle wasn't just a joke; it was a rhythmic choice. The original jingle has a very specific syncopation.
- The "Bum" (Beat 1)
- The "Ba-Dum" (Beat 2)
- The resolving "Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum"
Diplo took that structure and layered it over a heavy 808 kick. It turned a friendly "we’ve got you covered" melody into something that could blow out a car speaker. This is why the song survived past the initial joke. It’s actually a well-constructed piece of trap music.
Most parody songs have terrible mixing. They sound like they were recorded in a basement on a $20 mic. This sounded like it belonged on the radio. That cognitive dissonance—hearing world-class production paired with lyrics about "frozen pizza" and "cinnamon toast crunch"—is where the magic lives.
The Legacy of Three Loco and Branded Memes
Where are they now? Three Loco eventually went their separate ways, though they’ve reunited for the occasional project. Riff Raff became a legitimate (if still eccentric) star. Simon Rex had a massive acting comeback in Red Rocket. Andy Milonakis moved into the world of Twitch streaming and remains a legend of the "weird internet."
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But the we are farmers 3 loco effect changed how brands look at music.
You see it now on TikTok every day. Brands try to make sounds that people will remix. They want that "viral" moment. But it rarely feels as authentic as the Three Loco track because today it's usually engineered by a marketing firm in a skyscraper. Three Loco felt like three guys who got high, heard a commercial, and decided to make a banger.
It was the Wild West.
There’s a certain nostalgia for that era of the internet. Before everything was optimized for "engagement metrics" and "brand safety," we had three guys in overalls rapping over an insurance jingle just because they could. It reminds us that the best content isn't always the most "professional"—it's the stuff that makes you say, "Wait, did they really just do that?"
How to Apply the Three Loco Energy to Your Own Content
If you're a creator or a brand, there’s a lesson here. Don't be afraid of the absurd. The reason we are farmers 3 loco worked is that it leaned 100% into the bit. It didn't wink at the camera and say "Look how funny we are." It just was funny.
Stop trying to be perfect.
People crave authenticity, even if that authenticity is wrapped in a neon-colored, insurance-sampling rap song. If you’re looking to capture even a fraction of that lightning in a bottle, you have to be willing to look a little bit crazy.
Next Steps for Content Creators:
Look at the everyday objects or sounds around you. Is there a "jingle" in your life that everyone knows but no one has re-imagined? Use that as a baseline. Use tools like Ableton or even mobile apps like BandLab to experiment with sampling familiar sounds.
The goal isn't to copy Three Loco. The goal is to find your own "Farmers Insurance" moment—that piece of shared cultural DNA that you can twist into something entirely new.
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Start by identifying three "boring" corporate elements and brainstorm the most ridiculous way to present them. That’s how you break through the noise in 2026. Keep it weird, keep it loud, and never be afraid to sample the jingle.