T-Mobile's Super Bowl ad with Bradley Cooper and his mom didn't go as originally planned

T-Mobile tapped Bradley Cooper, and his mother, Gloria Campano, for one of two of its Super Bowl ads. Shot in a behind-the-scenes style, the 60-second ad features Cooper playing a T-Mobile salesperson (pink shirt and all), and his mom playing a customer. Inevitably, her comments, such as, “You look like a flamingo,” cause Cooper to break character and laugh time and again. The commercial was produced by Panay Films. But the spot wasn't always meant to be in the form of outtakes. When the team behind the ad first sat down with Cooper and his mother for a table read, they realized that the best way to showcase their energy was to go off-script. So they pivoted, making the ad in a “behind the scenes” format. “They kind of were just wanting to show mother-son love, and the connection, and the banter between them … and then we created the concept out of that,” Peter DeLuca, T-Mobile’s chief creative officer, said. The best and worst Super Bowl ads Ad Age reviews the Big Game commercials Click here And speaking of that team: Bradley Cooper goes way back with a few of them. Andrew Panay of Panay Films actually cast Cooper in one of his first big movies, “Wedding Crashers.” And the spot’s creative director, Brian Klugman, has been friends with Cooper since high school in Pennsylvania. “We have two Eagles fans!” DeLuca joked about Klugman and Cooper. The second spot, dubbed “Grease,” was released on Feb. 9. It stars—you guessed it—John Travolta, reprising his role as Danny Zuko, as well as Zach Braff and Donald Faison. The trio sings a song from the film “Grease,” but changes the lyrics to promote T-Mobile’s home internet service. This 60-second ad is also produced with Panay Films, and will air in the fourth quarter.

T-Mobile's Super Bowl ad with Bradley Cooper and his mom didn't go as originally planned

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