T-Mobile Super Bowl 2019 ad goes for your stomach with vow of free tacos
The company's trying to win you over by partnering with Taco Bell for free food. Later, another ad promises a free Lyft ride.
Most Super Bowl ads go for viewers' eyeballs, and sometimes appeal to their hearts. This Super Bowl, T-Mobile decided to go for viewers' stomachs. The telecommunications company announced that its customers can go to Taco Bell once a week and get a free taco, courtesy of T-Mobile.
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T-Mobile aired a number of ads showing humorous text exchanges. In one, a texter hesitates to express a meal preference (one wants tacos, one wants sushi), and the free taco deal is revealed. For the foreseeable future, qualifying T-Mobile customers can redeem the offer via the app and Taco Bell's website, and then pick up the free crunchy or soft seasoned beef taco at a nearby Taco Bell.
Some taco fans were ready to eat. "Legit the best commercial I've seen so far on the #SuperBowlLlll," tweeted one person.
But not everyone was gobbling up the ad. "You paid $5.2 million on a Super Bowl commercial for that?" snarked one Twitter user.
That wasn't the end of the freebies. A third-quarter ad showing a misunderstood message from a Lyft driver revealed that T-Mobile users can redeem a $10 Lyft ride credit, beginning Tuesday using the T-Mobile Tuesdays App.
One of T-Mobile's competitors went the humor-meets-celebrity route. In a Sprint ad released before the game, multi-sport star Bo Jackson showed up holding a mermaid clutching a keytar with a "bird horse" flapping over his shoulder, promoting the idea that Sprint delivers the "best of both worlds."
First published Feb. 3, 5 p.m. PT.
Update, 5:56 p.m: Adds free Lyft credit offer.