AT&T tried to be cute with its campaign to pique people’s curiosity about its new mLife wireless service. Leading up to and during the Super Bowl, the telecom giant aired a series of ads produced by Ogilvy & Mather, such as the 15-second teaser "Farmer" and this one, prompting people to ask “what is mLife?”
The spots may have made viewers curious without providing much pleasure. According to USA Today’s weekly Ad Track poll, only 6% of respondents said they liked the mLife ads “a lot” compared to the average 22%, and 22% said they disliked the spots, compared to the average 13%.
AT&T ended consumers' suspense with its minute-long "Belly Buttons" later in Super Bowl XXXVI, but wound up discontinuing the campaign the following year and handed over corporate-branding duties to Goodby Silverstein & Partners.
BRAND: AT&T
YEAR: 2002
AGENCY: Ogilvy & Mather
SUPERBOWL: XXXVI