The American mobile communications companyT-Mobileis known for their memorable ad campaigns, and a slew of early 2010s commercials featured the “T-Mobile girl”, but the actress vanished without a trace. Prior to the T-mobile girl, the company employed a string of celebrity spokespeople, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Snoop Dogg. These stars all did a great job, but T-Mobile really struck gold when they hired an unknown actress to be the spokesperson for their new 4G launch.
This actress followed in the footsteps offamous commercial actorPaul Marcarelli as the Verizon guy, and paved the way for Milana Vayntrub to frequently appear in AT&T commercials. The T-Mobile girl’s myTouch 4G commercials were famous for lampooning Apple’s “Get a Mac” campaign, and these ads were so popular that they in turn were parodied by Virgin Mobile. The ads wouldn’t have been nearly as entertaining if not for the charismatic T-Mobile girl, which makes her sudden disappearance even more puzzling.
Carly Foulkes, The Original T-Mobile Girl Actress, Was Replaced By Shakira
Foulkes Appeared In A Series Of T-Mobile Commercials From 2010-2013
The Canadian-bornCarly Foulkes is the actress who plays the T-Mobile Girl, having first become a spokesperson for the company in 2010.Prior to her partnership with T-Mobile, Foulkes was a model, starting back in 2001 at just 13 years old (viaMy Daily). Initially, Foulkes wore a satin pink dress in the T-Mobile ads, as the company was aiming for a girl-next-door look.
However, in April 2012,Foulkes famously ditched the dress for her pink and black motorcycle outfit in T-Mobile’s “No more Mr. Nice Girl” commercial, and that motif carried through with most of the rest of her commercials, which highlighted the service’s 4G capabilities and how far they extended through the country.
T-Mobile actually owns the trademark to the color magenta (viaNPR).
Despite having a successful run as the T-Mobile girl,in October 2013, the company announced a brand-new partnership with pop superstar Shakira, and Foulkes would not be involved with the campaign, but would remain under contract. Their official statement was (viaGeek Wire):
This campaign represents a new direction for the brand — offering consumers a fair and simple choice. As such, the current campaign will not feature the character of the T-Mobile Girl, however she is still a part of the company’s brand family. We’re shooting from the hip and think you’re gonna love our cage-rattling approach.
Over the years, it feels like companies have started to rely on more celebrity deals and endorsements, rather than finding up-and-coming spokespeople like Carly Foulkes. As great as Shakira and other celebrity advertisers are, commercials have lost a bit of their magic as a result.
Other Celebrities Who Have Appeared In T-Mobile Commercials
The celebrity brand deals didn’t just stop with Shakira, though, as numerous A-listers have appeared in T-Mobile commercials over the years. The company’s 2023 holiday ad featured Zoe Saldaña, the actress best known for playing Gamora in the MCU, and Neytiri in James Cameron’sAvatarfranchise. Recently, professional golfer Nelly Korda has been appearing in some T-Mobile commercials, while Zach Braff, Donald Faison, and Jason Momoa teamed up for a 2024star-studded Super Bowl commercial.
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Of course, companies tend to go with celebrities to get as many eyes on their products as possible, and in the age of social media, celebrity endorsements seem to grow exponentially every year. Still, it is nice to look back on actresses like Carly Foulkes who rose to fame by becoming the spokesperson for T-Mobile in the early 2010s. In fact, theT-Mobilegirl ads were pretty great, discovering their own identity and becoming recognizable through the campaign. This just isn’t something that happens with celebrity-focused commercials, as these famous people already have their own persona.
