“You’ve got to swing, you’ve got to risk, and you’ve got to go for it,” Panay said. “Because if you play it safe and you play it in the middle, number one, I feel it on the [Super] Bowl when I see those safe spotsI go, ‘I’m not doing that.’ T-Mobile is not [doing that]. They’re gamblers. They’re not sitting back. That’s where they come from.”
Eventually, Panay’s team and T-Mobile got the pop stars to agree to the project. And the production process flowed smoothly, according to Panay, who called the band members “beautiful human beings.” He added that he’s never “seen anybody care more” than the Backstreet Boys about delivering excellence.
Wireless showdown
The full spot, released Friday, follows two cheeky teasers dropped earlier in February.
The release also arrives just two days after Reuters reported that Verizon is suing T-Mobile over allegations of false advertising. The competing carrier claims that some T-Mobile ads inflated claims of how much consumers could save by switching carriers.
In a statement to ADWEEK, a T-Mobile spokesperson told ADWEEK it stood behind the transparency of its marketing, and that it “disagrees with the lawsuit and will defend it vigorously.”
The new Backstreet Boys-fronted ad, “Tell Me Why (T-Mobile’s Version),” will be the brand’s 13th consecutive Super Bowl appearance. It will air during the second quarter of Sunday’s faceoff between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara, California.
Watch the full video below.
