Mint Mobile eschews Super Bowl ad in another customer-focused savings stunt

Low-cost cell carrier Mint Mobile is passing on the chance to air a traditional Super Bowl ad during this weekend’s game, instead opting for the second consecutive year to launch a money-saving stunt that benefits its customers. Ahead of the Chiefs-Bucs matchup, Mint’s only Super Bowl-adjacent marketing will be a print ad in the Wall Street Journal, which it purchased for $130,000—exponentially less than the cost of Big Game airtime, which costs advertisers roughly $5.5 million per 30-second slot. And what is Mint, owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, doing with the spare millions of dollars it might’ve otherwise spent on a commercial? It’s upping the data limits on all of its existing phone plans at no extra charge to customers. Effective immediately, plans that once offered 3GB of monthly data will be upped to 4GB; 8GB plans will be increased to 10GB; and former 12GB plans, Mint’s largest limited data option, will be raised to 15GB. Mint customers are super happy we upped our data levels at no extra charge. Regarding my face, Verizon and AT&T did not react as happily… @Mintmobile pic.twitter.com/vQfnqR4mtD— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 2, 2021 “It’s Groundhog Day and here we go again: this Sunday, giant wireless companies will spend more than $5 million dollars for a 30-second commercial,” reads the full-page “advertise-Mint” signed by Reynolds. “Now, I’m new to the whole ‘owning a wireless company’ thing, but I’m guessing expenditures like that may be a reason they charge customers so much.” Bucking the production of a top-dollar Super Bowl ad isn’t new for Mint; it’s a trend the former on-screen advertiser began last year, when it ran another print ad ahead of the 2020 NFL championship that promised to give away 300,000 months of free cell service to its users instead of shelling out millions for a commercial. Since that original print ad, Mint’s marketing campaign stunts have only gotten wackier in recent months, from an odd TV spot starring Rick Moranis in a literal mint field, to donating to a golden retriever’s mayoral re-election campaign in the village of Idyllwild, Calif.

Mint Mobile eschews Super Bowl ad in another customer-focused savings stunt

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