Jason Momoa Stars In New T-Mobile Super Bowl 2024 Commercial In A Throwback To 'Flashdance'
T-Mobile is making a splash at the Super Bowl with a star-studded musical. Starring in the commercial are "Aquaman's" Jason Momoa and the inseparable Zach Braff and Donald Faison, best known for their roles on "Scrubs." The commercial presents T-Mobile's home internet plan as a replacement for cable.
The Super Bowl spot starts with Braff and Faison knocking on Momoa's front door with a plate of hot wings, ready to watch the Big Game. To their disappointment, Momoa informs them that the party is canceled because he is stuck waiting on a cable internet technician to get their TV up and running.
In response, Braff burst into a song in the tune of "What a Feeling." The actor-turned-spokesperson exclaims that they, too, used to have cable but made the switch to something else. Faison picks up the song where Braff left off and explains that his former co-star switched to T-Mobile home internet with 5G. Mamao responds, using a chicken wing as a mic to burst into song. Momoa exclaims that he has been convinced that it is time for them to subscribe to T-Mobile's home internet.
For the song's conclusion, the ”Aquaman” star gets a bucket of water dumped on their head. Then, an onlooker hilariously asks Momoa to do it again, but with his shirt off this time.
Evoking '80s nostalgia
The young ones enjoying the big game might not catch what the spot references. The song being parodied in the commercial, ”What a Feeling," was famously featured in "Flashdance," a romantic drama starring Jennifer Beals and Michael Nouri.
Just like the song, the water getting splashed on Momoa at the end of the ad is also a reference to the film. It is a callback to the memorable scene where Jennifer Beals's character, Alex Owens, gets hit with a bucket of water while performing on stage. This scene has lived on in pop culture long after ”Flashdance” left theatres, being referenced in countless pieces of media, even 40 years later in this case.
Momoa isn't the first celebrity to appear alongside T-Mobile spokespersons Braff and Faison in a Super Bowl spot. The spot is part of the T-Mobile "Tell The Whole Neighborhood" campaign, a running series in which the two actors approach their celebrity neighbors in a fictitious neighborhood to get them to switch to T-Mobile Home Internet.
Last year's Super Bowl Commercial featured John Travolta. As you may have already guessed, the impromptu song is "Summer Nights" from the iconic musical "Grease." Just like the fictitious version of Momoa, Travolta's onscreen person also unsurprisingly switches to T-Mobile home internet during his Super Bowl spot.