AT&T continues its “Just OK is not OK” with a series of new March Madness-themed ads, featuring an announcing duo.
One of the spots features the two sportscasters – Ken (played by Mark Neely) and Phil (Tim Baltz) – sitting courtside, with Ken praising a marching band. “A fantastic marching band. National champions. And a real delight,” he says, when his colleague starts shouting “Freebird” several times. “I don’t think they’re taking the quiz,” the latter is told, which makes him shout “Please play Freebird!” He then explains to Ken that “every band knows it” and “they’re dying to play it”.
“Just ok is not ok. Whether it’s announcers or wireless networks,” the voiceover (Lena Waithe) says at the end of the commercial, adding that AT&T is “America’s best wireless network according to America’s biggest test, now with 5G Evolution, the first step to 5G,” and the company’s tagline, “More for your thing. That’s our thing”.
Baltz’s character, clueless color commentator Phil, who thinks his job as the color commentator is to actually comment on colors, also misunderstands when he’s asked for insight into his time as a player, claiming that those stories would not be appropriate because he’s now happily married, and reveals – in another commercial – that he thinks a guy who got a rebound is actually on the rebound.