T-Mobile spoofs award season in Oscars ads with Zach Braff and Donald Faison

T-Mobile is back at the Oscars for the first time since 2018, and it’s brought its brand ambassadors and former “Scrubs” costars Zach Braff and Donald Faison with it. Two 30-second spots airing during the Oscars show the duo on the red carpet and on stage at an awards show. On the red carpet (see the spot above), the “T-Mobile home internet guys” participate in an interview where they compare the bond they share to the trust they have for T-Mobile’s internet service. Once inside, the duo accept an award on behalf of T-Mobile for its home internet. They’re immediately met with wrap-it-up music and fight to promote the service as they’re played off stage. The spots by Panay Films promote T-Mobile’s recent No. 1 customer satisfaction award from J.D. Power, which made the Oscars the perfect place to air them, said Brian Klugman, head of creative at Panay Films. "Putting Zach and Donald in any scenario is instantly funny, but what elevates the comedy is plugging them into the center of culturally relevant moments,” he said in a statement. “That’s why we chose to set these spots in the madness of award season.” Braff and Faison have been mainstays in T-Mobile’s marketing plans since 2022, when they sang a musical in one of the brand’s Super Bowl spots. They were absent in T-Mobile’s Super Bowl work this year, which promoted the widespread availability of its satellite-powered service in partnership with Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. “Zach and Donald have starred in some of our most popular ads and they’ve become more like creative partners to us over the years, so we couldn’t resist bringing them back for the Oscars,” said Kristin Harrer, senior VP and chief brand officer at T-Mobile, in a statement. “Their longtime friendship plays perfectly into our story around T-Mobile Home Internet. When it’s reliable, you don’t have to think about it, you can just count on it.” More Creativity coverage from Ad Age: Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.

T-Mobile spoofs award season in Oscars ads with Zach Braff and Donald Faison

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