THE AD: Backstreet’s back in T-Mobile’s splashy Super Bowl spot. Produced by the brand’s agency partner Panay Films, the 60-second spot sees the iconic boy band surprise real customers at T-Mobile’s Times Square store with an unexpected reimagination of their 1999 classic hit “I Want It That Way.” The lyrics are rewritten to promote the network; “Tell me why it’s America’s best network, tell me why Netflix is included, and lots of perks,” the group croons.
There’s a lot of goofiness involved, from a 7-11 Slurpee-stained blue tongue to overpowering wind effects and surprise appearances from comedian Druski, influencer-actor Pierson Fodé, and rapper Machine Gun Kelly.
The campaign represents T-Mobile’s 13th consecutive Big Game buy.
MY TAKE: This has the DNA of a classic Super Bowl ad: big budget, celebrity appearances, and flashy antics. Consumers are likely to respond positively to the campaign—even if they’re unaware it’s doing some heavy lifting for the carrier amid rising churn and a fresh legal challenge from a rival.
It also fits naturally into T-Mobile’s work from previous Super Bowls. In 2017, T-Mobile tapped Justin Bieber, Rob Gronkowski, and Terrell Owens to showcase a silly history of touchdown dances; in 2023, the brand reimagined the Grease number “Summer Nights” with the help of John Travolta, Zach Braff, and Donald Faison; and in 2024, Jason Momoa joined Braff and Faison for a goofy musical-style number. (Last year, the brand diverged from this playbook with a fairly unremarkable promotion of its partnership with Elon Musk’s satellite service Starklink.)
The ad arrives at a moment when T-Mobile could use some positive PR. Headlines about the Backstreet Boys campaign are likely to drown out reports earlier this week documenting Verizon’s allegations of false advertising levied against T-Mobile in a new lawsuit. T-Mobile rejected the allegations in a previous statement to ADWEEK. The company is also losing customers after raising prices and fees on older plans and migrating customers to new plans without asking.
The Backstreet Boys, who’ve sold more than 130 million records worldwide, will be a reliable crowd-pleaser—appealing across demographics at a moment of heightened social and political division in the U.S. It doesn’t feel especially groundbreaking, but it’ll bag an easy win for the brand and get people chattering on social media.
