Sprint poaches former Verizon ambassador

One of the most recognizable ad campaigns among mobile phone providers in recent years starred the bespectacled Paul Marcarelli traveling the country asking, “Can you hear me now?”

Those ads touted Verizon Wireless, but now it appears that Marcarelli has switched teams.

“Hey, I’m Paul, and I used to ask if you could hear me now with Verizon,” he says in one spot. “Not anymore.” He continues the pitch by saying the two networks are now basically the same, only Sprint’s is cheaper.

That’s a bold move after Verizon spent nearly 10 years paying him what I can only presume to be a living wage.

“So, I switched to Sprint,” Marcarelli says, “and millions more have, too. Can you hear that?”

Boom!

Sprint’s chief executive, Marcelo Claure, had this to say to USA Today about the move:

Our goal is basically to get people when they’re watching our ads or watching social media to pay attention… I think a lot of people are going to recognize Paul and see (him) in a (Sprint-colored) yellow tee show and ask themselves, “what happened?”

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Folks on Twitter reacted to the move—one saying Marcarelli “sold out” and others calling it a “savage” marketing effort and “power play”:

Jesus, Sprint stole Verizon’s “can you hear me now” guy? What a savage marketing move

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) June 7, 2016

hol up, 'can you hear me now?' guy from Verizon is doing sprint commercials now?! trust. no one.

— Kendall Marshall (@KButter5) June 6, 2016

The 'Can you hear me now?' guy from Verizon moving to Sprint is the biggest ad power play https://t.co/zXmyBBXf9K http://pic.twitter.com/RcBvHrpgec

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) June 6, 2016

The "can you hear me now?" guy from Verizon is now the spokes person for Sprint. Savage.

— Emily (@Em__lay) June 7, 2016

Call me a skeptic, but I think the "Can you hear me now?" guy just simply sold out.

— Conrad Fisher (@ConradFisher) June 7, 2016

If they’re not already, you can expect commercial actors’ contracts to include a clause to prevent these types of shenanigans in the future. The last thing AT&T’s marketing team wants to see is the adorkable company “saleswoman” Lily pushing T-Mobile.

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