Verizon is turning to a middling mid-1990s Jim Carrey comedy movie to spark sales of its hot new fixed wireless product, commissioning the actor to reanimate "Cable Guy" for a Super Bowl ad.
The 15-second spot, at the 9:16 mark of the Verizon video below showcasing the wireless company's numerous Super Bowl-related marketing activities this coming Sunday, reveals a leery woman approaching her front door after a knock from a man who identifies himself simply as, "cable guy!"
"Your internet will never be the same," said Diego Scotti, executive VP and chief marketing officer at Verizon, introducing the spot on LinkedIn Monday.
Verizon reported an impressive 78,000 new signups of its new fixed wireless access (FWA) service in Q4, upping the customer base for the fledgling service to 228,000.
Verizon and T-Mobile are aggressively marketing FWA products in an effort to pull back some of cable's high-speed internet market share in the U.S., which currently stands at around 70%.
Verizon said it spent $80 million upgrading its network in and around Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., the site of last year's Super Bowl. It's unclear how much the wireless giant will spend in and around SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday. Prices for a 30-second spot on NBC are reportedly going for $6 million, up 9% over the 2021 game.
As for The Cable Guy, it was directed by Ben Stiller and starred Matthew Broderick as a heart-broken young man whose problems are further compounded when he gets a tech visit from his cable company. The movie scored an aggregated 53% among critics and grossed just over $100 million at the global box office. ■
