T-Mobile injected politics into its 2018 Super Bowl ad which aired on Sunday using footage of adorable babies to promote equal pay, diversity, and same-sex marriage:
Welcome to the world little one. Yeah, a lot to take in. But you come with open minds and an instinct that we are equal.
Some people may see your differences and be threatened by them. But you are unstoppable.
You’ll love who you want. You’ll demand fair and equal pay. You will not allow where you come from to dictate where you’re going.
You will be heard — not dismissed. You will be connected — not alone. Change starts now.
The one-minute ad ends with the message: “Are you with us?”
T-Mobile CEO John Legere tweeted about the ad:
“This year, we wanted to use our #SuperBowl airtime to share that @TMobile believes we all started in the same place. We are more alike than different. And we are unstoppable,” Legere tweeted.
This year, we wanted to use our #SuperBowl airtime to share that @TMobile believes we all started in the same place. We are more alike than different. And we are unstoppable. pic.twitter.com/piNDVYloAN
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) February 5, 2018
Legere also wrote a blog about the spot, confirming the company’s ideology revealed in the ad.
Legere wrote T-Mobile is “best place to work for diverse employees, for parents, for military, for LGBTQ. We have one of the most active Diversity & Inclusion networks in corporate America, groups that help us continue to create an ever-stronger work environment where everyone – absolutely everyone – is supported and can bring their whole, authentic self to work.”
“This year, more than ever, I want the world to know exactly who we are and what we believe in,” Legere wrote.
The Washington Postheadlined its story about Super Bowl ads by saying they are in response to widespread unhappiness since Donald Trump was elected president and that the social warrior theme of this year’s Super Bowl offerings tried to give people watching Sunday’s football game “hope.”
“It’s been a tough year, America,” the headline said. “These 7 Super Bowl commercials tried to give us hope.”
The Post reported on those ads, which included T-Mobile’s:
This year’s Super Bowl capped off a politically divisive season for the NFL, filled with protests and presidential politics. Commercials that opted for a more serious tone were therefore left with a tricky task to fulfill. They had to appear woke but, at the same time, somehow pander to the broadest demographic possible. The result? A slew of the usual ads depicting the convergence of a fractured America, but void of any overtly political messages.
These …. commercials best captured these ham-handed attempts to tell Americans: Hey, we’re all in this together.
Most Super Bowl ads avoided political, while others, including RAM’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King advert, sparked controversy on social media.
