Mint takes ‘upside down’ approach with Ryan Reynolds ad

Jim Carrey, Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton weren’t the only celebrities in national ads for wireless companies as part of the Super Bowl last weekend. Mint Mobile, whose spokesman is Ryan Reynolds, used a pre-game commercial to air an “upside-down” spot.  

The ad, which ran around 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on February 13, reflected the company’s ambition to take a “Mintier” approach to the big event, according to Mint Mobile CMO Aron North. The average price tag for a game time Super Bowl ad this year was about $7 million, and that’s not including the cost of talent, crew, set and other expenses, he noted.  

Mint wanted to get in on the action, but spending that kind of money for a 30-second spot seemed like the “antithesis of Mint’s goal – to save our users money,” he explained. So the company recycled an old ad to save on production costs and opted for the earlier time slot – still reaching a massive audience but without the hefty price tag.

“The pregame was a very conscious choice for us. We’re always actively looking for ways to cut down on our costs so that we can pass the savings on to our consumers,” North said.

RELATED: Mint Mobile pulls back on unlimited ad claims after AT&T challenge

Mint doesn’t have its own brick and mortar locations and doesn’t employ salespeople for its prepaid offerings – and that’s intentional. By eliminating these additional costs – which are very typical of big wireless companies – it’s able to offer wireless services starting at $15 per month. Mint doesn’t advertise it, but it uses T-Mobile’s network under an MVNO arrangement.

When Mint’s creative team was given the directive to “find a Minty way to do the Super Bowl,” the team had “all sorts of interesting approaches that allowed us to save money in the process,” North said. But to literally turn an ad upside down and re-record the voiceover – that wasn’t something they had ever seen before.

“We have had a lot of success lately with campaigns that take the creative approach of ‘we don't spend money on X, so we can continue to bring you premium wireless for $15/mo.’ We knew we wanted to take that same approach, but also visually needed it to be attention grabbing on a day that's filled with high-production value spots,” he said. “We knew that having an upside-down ad was going to instantly grab attention.”

Mint is part of the Ultra family of mobile entities.

Changes afoot

Incidentally, Ultra Mobile recently entered the Home Internet business with Ultra 5G Home Internet, joining the ranks of facilities-based network providers T-Mobile and Verizon in that market. The Ultra 5G Home Internet plans start at $54.99; Ultra Home Internet also runs on T-Mobile’s network.

Last month, Wave7 Research noted that Ultra Mobile is hiring a CFO to “take Ultra Mobile, Mint Mobile and Plum to the next level,” referring to a January 24 LinkedIn post. Based on the job description, the successful candidate must have experience taking a company public. “An IPO would make sense for a company as ambitious as this,” Wave7 stated.

Last year, reports surfaced that Mint Mobile might be an acquisition target for Altice USA, but that never transpired. Altice, a cable operator that uses T-Mobile’s network, sells mobile service under the Optimum Mobile brand. During an earnings call Wednesday, Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei hinted the operator is in the process of striking a new MVNO deal with T-Mobile.