As with many things in today’s climate, which is deeply divided by partisan politics, T-Mobile’s Super Bowl LII ad has left audiences divided.
Videos by Rare
The ad begins slowly and follows a line of diverse babies. A narrator begins to speak as the camera pans over their innocent faces.
“Welcome to the world, little ones. Yeah, it’s a lot to take in. But you come with open minds and the instinct that we are equal,” the voice begins.
The camera continues to pan as the weight of the narrator’s words becomes much deeper.
“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,” she says as her tone becomes more grave.
The ad ends with,”Change starts now.”
https://twitter.com/TMobile/status/960336542202937344
CEO John Legere decided to explain what people had just seen.
“This year, we wanted to use our [Super Bowl] airtime to share that [T-Mobile] believes we all started in the same place. We are more alike than different. And we are unstoppable,” he wrote on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/JohnLegere/status/960335734065438720
“[T-Mobile] has always stood for inclusivity, equality & the idea that we can change things for good. One thing I know is that change doesn’t just happen. It requires people to join together,” he added.
But it wasn’t enough to fix the damage done in the eyes of some. For others, the opposition only encouraged them to continue to defend the ad.
“Hell no, this bs ad had no place during the [Super Bowl]. Political agendas don’t look good in magenta,” argued one Twitter user. Another responded to her, saying, “Political? Is more about equality but that’s just me.”
https://twitter.com/The_AustinJ/status/960336867752366086
https://twitter.com/Holdensmama/status/960338850387132416
Some were already ahead of the curve, joking that a boycott was imminent.
Conservatives gonna boycott T-Mobile now.
— Machine Pun Kelly 🇺🇦 (@KellyScaletta) February 5, 2018
While others made it clear that the provider lost their business.
https://twitter.com/Kittens4milk/status/960340577920286720
Despite the reactions, T-Mobile stood by their work — initially.
https://twitter.com/TMobile/status/960339749708881922
It seems the above tweet has since been deleted.
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