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OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Actor Ron Livingston, who plays a hostage negotiator on the new television series “Standoff,” will promote Sprint Nextel Corp. service in a series of TV commercials that are part of the carrier’s new “Power Up” campaign. However, Livingston won’t exactly be the Catherine Zeta-Jones of Sprint Nextel, since the company said it doesn’t want a big-name celeb distracting attention from its brand.
Livingston has starred in movies such as cult favorite “Office Space,” “Swingers” and more recently in “Little Black Book” opposite actress Brittany Murphy. He also appeared on television in “Sex and the City,” playing a writer who dated Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie and broke up with her via a Post-It note.
According to Sprint Nextel, Livingston will be featured as a “straightforward, relatable guy who finds unconventional ways to talk about Sprint’s wireless service.”
“We wanted to create a series of straightforward spots starring an actor known for being smart, clever and accessible—someone familiar yet not a celebrity who would take focus away from our messaging,” said Mike Goff, Sprint’s vice president of national advertising.
But Livingston will not be in every Sprint Nextel TV ad, nor will he appear in print ads, at least for the time being—although Goff said that Sprint Nextel will be working with him “into the foreseeable future.”
“This isn’t about turning Ron Livingston into the face of Sprint,” Goff said. “He is the perfect actor to star in this series of ads because they are highly stylized and deliver messages in a very specific manner. This format won’t be appropriate for all Sprint messaging.”
Sprint Nextel previously used the “trench coat guy” in its advertising. Verizon Wireless continues to use the “Can you hear me now?” guy.
