Did State Farm Ad "Borrow" Bot from Portal 2 Game?

Insurance brand State Farm has a new ad, "State of Chaos." The spot boasts high production values and great special effects. Very good, but also suspiciously familiar to some gamers who are wondering if this State Farm ad has a secret tie-in partner in a recent video game.

In the State Farm "making of" video for "State of Chaos," the producer notes that the "oversized giant alien robot" was a perfect choice to highlight the three coverage points for the insurance company: Home, Auto, Life. The video talks about how the design of the robot came about, but as just one of many commenters pointed out, "That is Atlas from portal 2."

What they mean is that the robot is a near replica of the robot named "Atlas" from the video game "Portal 2," made by Valve. Officially, this is no tie-in, just a coincidence. But some gamers believe the resemblance is more than a coincidence. One argues: "valve needs to sue these guys for stealing atlas."

A closer look at Portal 2's Atlas (left) and the State Farm bot (right) suggests some borrowing may have occurred, yet it's far from a lawsuit slam dunk.

Portal 2 was released in July 2011, the State Farm commercial just a month later.