Bo Jackson is untouchable. And it seems like AT&T took notice because their new ad campaign completely revolves around how impressively great Bo really is (and how everybody knows it). The company pulled together a bunch of college-football legends, from Steve Young and Jerry Rice to Herschel Walker and Roger Staubach, to basically try out for the chance to watch the College Football Playoff with Jackson. As a result, things get pretty weird.
The full cast is as follows:
Bo Jackson
Roger Staubach
Herschel Walker
Doug Flutie
Jerry Rice
Emmitt Smith
Steve Young
Desmond Howard
Rocket Ismail
Danny Kannell
Ron Dayne
That’s a pretty stacked and odd bunch. Obviously a bunch of these guys already have broadcast experience, so they’re able to put their personality through, but even the ones who aren’t on TV all the time seem to hold their own. Staubach especially plays it up when he takes a nap in the “Armchair Quarterback Challenge.”
This isn’t the first time AT&T has brought a bunch of players like this together. During the NCAA Tournament this year, they had guys like Christian Laettner, Dr. J, and Shaq hanging out, and the spots actually gave off a lot of levity and humor. These seem to have a very similar feel, although the approach is slightly different.
“We’ve worked with a few [of these players] before,” AT&T senior marketing communcations manager Whitney Robertson said, “and were looking for group of players who we knew could have fun with it and be genuine on camera. There were a lot of great spontaneous moments, and we were able to capture some of them.”
There are nine spots in all, and they’ll start rolling out this weekend. Look, I know we’re being sold to, but that’s the world we live in now, and if it means I get to watch Bo Jackson kick Danny Kanell out of the room for refusing to wash Bo Jackson’s car, then I’m fine with it.
