T-Mobile Takes Different Path with This Year’s Super Bowl Commercial

T-Mobile’s Super Bowl ad shows babies of different ethnicities and races all starring adorably in a clarion call for diversity and inclusion.

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This one shows only babies, though with narration by a celebrity voice: Kerry Washington’s.

“Welcome to the world, little one,” Washington’s voice says on the ad. “You have a lot to take in. But you come with open minds and the 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.”

Then, at ad’s end, these words come onscreen: “Change Starts Now. Are you With Us?”

“About four weeks ago, we were busy cooking up the usual big-game stuff that T-Mobile has made a name for themselves with,” says Nick Drake, T-Mobile’s executive vice president of marketing and experience. “The team took a step back and said, ‘Is there something more important that we should address, given the conversation that is happening in the country?’ ”

Babies would seem a safe way to go, but Drake expects critics to call the commercial political.

“This is not a political message in any way,” he says. “This is a national message. … (But) I think if you’re going to put out a strong message, you’re always going to open yourselves to some criticism.”

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T-Mobile calls itself the most diverse company in wireless and says its workforce is 62 percent minorities and 42 percent women. The company says it has been named to Forbes’ and Fortune’s best workplaces for diversity. It says its pay equality is 100 percent for minorities and 99.65 percent for women. The company also says it has been named to the Human Rights Campaign’s best places to work for LGBT employees for five consecutive years.

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