Dad's an Idiot in T-Mobile Commercial '26'
August 16th, 2007 by Glenn Sacks, MA for Fathers & Families
About 50 of my readers have written to me about the T-Mobile commercial "26." Brace yourself for a surprise--it's a commercial where a father acts like an idiot in front of his kids, and his wife is contemptuous of him. One wonders how long a commercial featuring a math-challenged woman who was too dumb to multiply 5 times 5 would be on the air.
See the ad below.
To learn more about anti-male advertising, click here. To learn about our campaigns against anti-male Verizon and Arnold Worldwide TV commercials, click here and here.
Thanks to all of you who wrote me about this. When pointing out an anti-male commercial to me, what's most helpful is that you send me a link to the video of the ad from YouTube or perhaps from the company's or advertising agency's website. I'm perpetually swamped with email, and am more likely to highlight an issue if I have the links I need from the beginning.
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August 16th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Currently circulating the "I have no real social life" website, otherwise known as MySpace:
It's poorly written, but it's nice to see Dads get a mention:
Your dad took you out for icecream, because he missed his little girl.
You thanked him by talking on your cell phone the whole time.
Your dad grounded you, for smoking pot instead of celebrating his birthday with your family. You thanked him by sneaking out that night, to go do more.
Your dad drove you to all of your sporting events, and practices.
You thanked him by putting in your ipod the whole car ride.
Your dad tried to meet the guy that picked you up for your first date, to protect his little angel.
You thanked him by yelling at him, and telling him how embarrassing he was.
Your dad came home from work early, to celebrate your birthday with you.
You thanked him by going out and partying with your friends all night.
Your dad asked you to take care of his dog while he was on vacation.
You thanked him by leaving the poor dog at home the whole time.
Your dad calls you on christmas, because you never came up to see him.
You thank him by saying "there's always next year," and hang up.
Your dad gets in a car accident, and you are the first person the cops call. You go down to the scene, to see if hes okay, and there lies your dad, holding the beaded bracelet you made him when you were in kindergarten, wishing you would have done more for him in the past.
August 16th, 2007 at 10:15 am
For some reason, Seattle is known for airplanes, software, ...and cell phones. T-Moble is at the SE corner of I-405 and I-90 in Factoria, south of Bellevue. The other majors were or still are located in this region.
Anyone track down who our misandric ad agency is for this one?
DanH
August 16th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Actually have to say that I agree with y'all on this one...
August 16th, 2007 at 10:34 am
I actually went about this a little differently then in previous campaigns. I went to their support site and simply said that I was offended anti-male ads and I look forward to an equally offensive anti-female ad that I am sure they are working on.... I am ok with being offended and I enjoy humor (and I see the humor in this ad)...I just can't stand that anti-male humor is found funny while anti-female humor is not. Men and women are supposed to be equal right?
August 16th, 2007 at 11:22 am
The main problem with this commercial is that in 2007 it's completeley cliche. We get it -- dads are stupid. Can we move on?
Anyone know who the company is who is behind the creation of this? Who was the ad firm T-Mobile used? That's where the problem needs to be addressed. The firm comes up with the ads; the company just hires them.
August 16th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
...so why don't the kids ask the mom, "Why did you marry such a moron? How did such a wise sage like you make such a bad choice? Or was this one of those arranged marriages that are so common in the western world?'
August 16th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Funny thing is, the scientific evidence is overwhelming that men are far better in math than women. This doesn't seem to be very honest advertising.
But it also occurs to me that the only T-Mobile customers I happen to know are women.
Maybe they are just trying to reach out to their, perhaps, primarily female market by lying to them to make them feel better?
Hmmm.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
...pretty soon, we may see a Title IX in math, in which the amount of male participation in mathematics courses will be limited to the amount of female of participation mathematics. Like how Title IX works with collegiate sports, resulting in many, many universities dumping their wrestling teams and other boys teams...
August 16th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Here are the main players at T-Mobile who should receive an email.
Robert Dotson President of T-Mobile
robert.dotson@t-mobile.com
David Beigie VP Corporate Communications
david.beigie@t-mobile.com
John Clelland Senior VP Marketing
john.clelland@t-mobile.com
T-Mobile's ad agency is Publicis USA.
Susan McManama Gianinno
Chairman & CEO
Publicis USA
susan.gianinno@publicis-usa.com
(I couldn't find her email anywhere, but am using their standard email protocol.
It could also be susan.mcmanama.gianinno@publicis-usa.com)
Bob Moore
Chief Creative Officer
Publicis USA
bob.moore@publicis-usa.com
Deborah Zbobinki
Executive Director, Corporate Communications
Publicis USA
212-279-5548
deborah.zbobinski@publicis-usa.com
Would also be a good idea to also cc The Seattle Times Tech Tracks reporter Tricia Turyee:
tduryee@seattletimes.com
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/techtracks/archives/2007/02/tmobile_usa_chief_marketer_leaving.html
And Advertising Age reporter Alice Z. Cuneo
acuneo@adage.com
http://www.glenngaudet.com/index.php/2007/04/20/cmo-shakeups-in-telecom-may-be-opportunity-to-revisit-brand-strategies/
August 16th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
If somebody will provide a good e-mail address I will send a note informing T-Mobile of my objections.
The T-Mobile support email address will do no good since it requires you to fill-out a form that categorizes your problem and there is no category for something like this.
August 16th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
"Funny thing is, the scientific evidence is overwhelming that men are far better in math than women. "
An important mathematical theorem is named in honor of a woman named Emmy Noerter. Her father was a mathematician also.
August 16th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Sure Michael, and a very brilliant Madame Curie received two Nobel prizes -- one in physics, the other in chemistry, which are both essentially applied math. But the observable fact remains that on average, males outperform females in mathematics by a large margin, especially as one goes up the scale of difficulty.
So I stand by my point that this is not very honest advertising, and it offends the senses to trash a father in front of his kids by making him a math dolt.
I don't like it, and it makes me want to trot out bountiful studies showing that this is B.S. and that the prevalent reality is exactly the opposite of what is depicted in this ad.
August 16th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
"Funny thing is, the scientific evidence is overwhelming that men are far better in math than women. "
An important mathematical theorem is named in honor of a woman named Emmy Noerter. Her father was a mathematician also.
And Diana Ross also won a Grammy. Yet the entire concept of Westenr music was the invention of men. When will people stop using anecdotal minutae to prove a point.
Mugsy was short, so I guess all basketball players are short. Great logic there.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Anonymous Pamphleteer, I had the - uh, interesting - experience of selling wireless recently for four horrific months for a third party agent - we sold T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint service plans. I can assure you that there are many men who are T-Mobile customers. That said, wireless contracts which are a family share plan rather than an individual plan are most likely to be in the wife's name, Although the man is usually the one who ultimately decides which carrier to select, it's the wife who is familiar with the service plans. The men are more interested in the actual handsets and their features than most women.
The commercial is offensive, not funny. Yes, some of my customers were idiots; when one is dealing with an idiot, one doesn't reallly care about the gender of said idiot. The demanding ones - the ones who wanted a new phone despite the fact they had no insurance and they dropped the phone in the washer - were usually women. The ones who wanted to exchange a phone a year after the exchange policy - usually women. Scream, scream, scream. I've been gone three weeks now and I imagine they are still screaming.
Scream on, "sister"!!!!! It won't get you anywhere. PS If you buy a phone for your six year old, don't be a dumba$$. Take the insurance.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
From your T-Mobile phone, dial 611 free of charge. You can also call toll-free at 1-800-937-8997 from any phone. T-Mobile's coverage may suck, but their customer care is excellent.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Phil, I don't know of an email address BUT the customer care is very, very, very good and you won't rot on hold forever like you do on Sprint. If you want to be sure your opinion is heard, I would ask to speak with a supervisor. The man/woman who answers your call will attempt to dissuade you, but they cannot keep you from speaking with a supervisor should you so desire.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Tony - the company approves the ad. There would be no ad had not T-Mobile approved it.
Look, I'm willing to go on TV and be the idiot wife AND I'll give NCFM and Fathers4Justice half the money!!! I'll be convincing because I really CAN be a total idiot!!! Just throw some simple arithmetic at me and watch me start to panic! After pretending to think about it, I'll get a horrible headache. Headaches never keep me from having intimate relations but they DO keep me from doing math. I am going back to school and I didn't get past the second question in the practice placement test for arithmetic. I was so stressed, I needed a few glasses of wine. Oh, and a calzone. Delivered.
That said, my math skills improve by leaps and bounds when it's time to determine how much 70 percent from 15.97 is. Funny, on Ebay, I have NO PROBLEM determining how much that darling Nanette Lepore dress (used, of course) costs with shipping, and if I wear it once per week for 52 weeks, the cost per wear is xxxx and that's why the dress is a great bargain.
Actually, it IS funny, but no one will take me up on this offer and we all know it. I wonder why it's okay for people to laugh at me in real life but not at a woman on TV.
August 17th, 2007 at 9:24 am
T Mobile contact:
http://support.t-mobile.com/caseSubmitForm.html
August 17th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Rosemarie said: I wonder why it's okay for people to laugh at me in real life but not at a woman on TV.
Maybe your hair's not blonde enough, or your boobs aren't big enough?
August 17th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Hi Glenn
Did you ever look at the Trojan "evolve" campaign where all the men in the bar were pigs?
Link to the video here:
http://www.trojanevolve.com/
August 17th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
How insecure does the T-mobile agency think their women customers must be, if they want to fantasize that a father and husband cannot multiply 5 times 5?
This ad reveals the company's cynical contempt for their market base in BOTH genders - nice job!
August 19th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
I'm an MRA, and have campaigned against misandric ads in the past, but have to admit, I find this ad funny. I laughed twice. When I watched it again, I laughed again. Men are better at math(s) than women, on average, but THIS guy didn't stay in school. He knows he's right when he's wrong, but he makes up for it by agreeing he should've stayed in school, in a similarly absurd attempt to maintain dominance by having the last word. The ad makes fun of the father's dominance, and in so doing, makes fun of male dominance. Good news, because dominance is bad for men (and everyone else around them).
September 11th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
shut up you guys just take things way to serious I don't see you defending Black people when they are racially profiled and you know it, get a job
September 13th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
To Tom:
Actually he doesn't say he left school. In fact, this is yet another bad example of men being an idiot and mom being the smart one. She says "Stay in school kids" and he screams from the back room where he's gone after being made a fool "Listen to your mother kids". So dad can't do math and kids should always listen to mom. Unreal.
As to "D"...this site has defended many fathers of color. Why would they concern themselves about racial profiling when this is a site for fathers rights and mens rights?
September 26th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Holy cow!!! Are you all for real? My wife and I both thought this ad was funny. If you want ads demeaning to women, watch just about any beer commercial during any NFL game. Want to talk stereotypes in advertising, how about every household cleaning product advertisement, where mom is scrubbing floors for family. Clearly, you folks have other issues in your lives that is causing this unnecessary defensiveness. My wife, my mom and my sister are my good friends, just as my brother is and my dad was. I feel sorry for you folks and hope you can patch things up with the women in your lives and start enjoying life again.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
WL:
What? "mom is scrubbing floors for family" is demeaning? Is dad working at his job supporting his family 'demeaning'? No, it's not. Neither is a woman cleaning up her family's house demeaning.