We let Pete Davidson go off-script and roast telco ads (including ours), and somehow that messy, no-logo, bleep-filled chaos actually got people walking into Verizon stores asking for “the Pete ad.”
Verizon had some shiny new offers—and the same old telco problem: no one gives a sh*t. So instead of shouting about how great we were (like every other telco ad ever), we decided to roast the entire category—starting with ourselves.
Enter Pete Davidson.
We handed him a mic, killed the script, and let him riff. What came back was a stream-of-consciousness fever dream packed with telco clichés, self-deprecating nonsense, and an oddly encyclopedic memory of phone commercials past (and yeah, some actual offers).
Visually, we went full anti-ad: raw sets, chopped-up edits, zero polish—working with some of Harmony Korine’s go-tos to make it all feel beautifully unhinged. One of the spots didn’t even have a logo. (Proudest moment of my career.)
We even snuck in some casual swearing—until they bleeped us. Still counts.
And the best part? It worked. On launch day, the CMO got frantic texts from the sales team: people were literally walking into stores asking about “that Pete ad” and switching to Verizon.
A completely chaotic, 10-day sprint. And yeah—totally worth it.
