Sprint and T-Mobile's CEOs got into a Twitter tizzy on Sunday over which carrier had the best Super Bowl ad: In a pitched battle between Kim Kardashian and a donkey, it is not clear which company got their ass handed to them.
First, a little context for our readers who don't live in the US: The Super Bowl is the night when many of the biggest brands in America try and get their most attention-getting spots on TV, in the expectation of a massive captive audience watching the game. Thirty-second advertisements cost a whopping $4.5 million each, so there's a lot at stake.
Ironically, Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) didn't even name T-Mobile US Inc. in its slot, instead taking aim at larger rivals AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless and their pricing. Sprint's ad used funny animals to try and call out their rivals as asses. See it below:
T-Mobile meanwhile paid -- through the nose, no doubt -- for a slot with Kim Karadasian and other ads.
T-Mobile also used comedians Chelsea Handler and Sarah Silverman to promote its new WiFi calling capabilities:
It didn't take long before a tweet-fight between the Sprint and T-Mobile CEOs broke out as the ads aired. "Half-assed commercial, half-assed data speeds," zinged the ever-mouthy Legere on Twitter.
"Never sacrifice your class to get even with someone who has none," Claure tweeted back.
A series of negative tweets about Legere from other people was also retweeted from Claure's Twitter account. One describing Legere as "an asshole."
Legere is no stranger in trying to tweak the new Sprint CEO's nose. This is the first time Claure -- or possibly his social media team! -- has gone as personal in a public forum with Legere though. (See T-Mob's Legere Unleashed: 'Total Chaos at Sprint'.)
Some needle between the two men, however, is no surprise. Both are vying to be the third-ranked US carrier in the US behind their much larger rivals.
Suffice to say that the viewing public didn't get too fussed by any of the ads. T-Mobile's top-ranked ad -- the WiFi calling slot -- was ranked 32 on the USA Today 2015 Ad Meter. Sprint's donkey and goat show screamed in at No. 34.
— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading
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