2016 Super Bowl Commercials: Drake, T-Mobile make ‘Hotline Bling’ something new

Drake has had one of the biggest singles of the year in “Hotline Bling,” and to go along with that, there’s a very memorable music video. Why not try to take advantage of that a little bit? That’s what T-Mobile has done for what certainly was a much-anticipated commercial leading into Super Bowl 50.

The idea – T-Mobile creates a mock version of a “Hotline Bling” commercial where phone executives try to convince him to add all sorts of ridiculous lyrics about restrictions into the track. He of course uses sarcasm like no other man can.

What works – It’s really funny, and you have a very game celebrity at the front of it. If he wasn’t idea the idea of poking fun of himself, this would have been a complete dud. Also, T-Mobile gets its “no restrictions” motto out there in an effective way. It’s not often that you can turn something highly-regarded as a pop-culture phenomenon into something totally different, but the show really does pull this off.

What doesn’t – Maybe you can argue that the ad is a little bit cheesy, especially with the depiction of the phone executives. Still, this is splitting hairs for what has been a well-reviewed and very popular commercial even leading up to the big game tonight.

Grade – B+. Who are we to argue with the public? They love this ad, and we do think that for the most, it’s a really fun chance to see everyone have a little bit of fun with what is ultimately a pretty simple ad.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDIeNrcGxvQ