T-Mobile is launching a new on air and online TV ad campaign featuring National Basketball Association stars as an extension of its efforts to plug its myFaves free call service.
The humorous ad spot features Charles Barkley and Dwayne Wade dining at a Chinese restaurant that Yao Ming, one of Barkley’s myFave 5 circle of friends, has suggested. They’re about to dig into Ming’s favorite shrimp dish when they notice the shrimp are still moving.
“How do you like it?” Ming asks Barkeley when the former NBA star reaches him by cell phone. “It’s got eyes and it’s still moving,” says Barkeley, who’s tenuously holding one of the shrimp in his chopsticks.
T-Mobile’s my Fave 5 feature permits its subscribers to select five people they can call on their mobile phones for free.
The spot debuted during Thursday night’s NBA game on TNT. It will also play online starting Friday on the T-Mobile /NBA microsite and on T-Mobile’s YouTube channel. And it’s certain to get plenty of viral distribution after that.
The new spot follows a series of comic ads T-Mobile started running last year that featured the loquacious Sir Charles calling good buddy Wade day and night, at inopportune times to hype the my Fave 5 T-Mobile feature.
The new ad can be viewed online.
Several other NBA celebrities, including Dwight Howard and former stars Magic Johnson and Julius Irving will subsequently appear in T-Mobile spots this season.
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