On Friday morning, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert tweeted that one of the carrier’s ads that aired that Super Bowl Sunday had been banned by the NFL.
Instead, the ad was posted on YouTube and debuted on the Today Show. You might be wondering exactly why the ad was turned down on Super Bowl Sunday. There was nothing controversial or obscene about the ad. There wasn’t even a name down. The ad simply boasted that T-Mobile’s network was more stable during video calls and the NFL star sponsor didn’t like that. This sponsor is Verizon Wireless.
Well that’s fun … one of our @T Mobile commercials were Banned from the big game on Sunday. Do you want to see him anyway…? 😉
You’re lucky! We give it to @TODAYshow airing today at 8 a.m.ET !! # TheGOATin5G
– Mike Sievert (@MikeSievert) February 5, 2021
Even after submitting a second draft of the ad, the first of which may or may not have mentioned Verizon by name, it was still not cleared to air.
In 2017, Verizon and the NFL signed a $ 2.5 billion deal to sponsor the National Football League for 5 years. The carrier used the Super Bowl location to boast about its 5G capabilities on mmWave, and T-Mobile’s 5G advertising just didn’t fit the partnership. T-Mobile and Verizon have both invested heavily to upgrade 5G network capacity ahead of this year’s Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida this Sunday.
The Super Bowl is the most watched sporting event in the United States all year round and the Super Bowl is historically known for showing the most outrageous / funny / weirdest commercials from American companies during commercial breaks. Super Bowl commercials these days are more expensive than controversial – usually featuring prominent celebrities or very creative advertising productions.
Via Twitter
