• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 6, 2016

Remember Verizon’s former pitchman who gained wide recognition asking if you could hear him now as he roamed around in commercials with his mobile phone looking for a decent reception area? 

Well, that pitchman, Paul Marcarelli, is now appearing in new Sprint advertising from Deutsch.  But now, instead of touting the strength of Verizon’s network he’s pitching Sprint’s reliability, claiming in the new ads that there’s a 1% difference in reliability between Sprint, Verizon and AT&T while Sprint service is less expensive given a new discount program. 

“It’s 2016 and every network is great,” Marcarelli says in one new ad. He then states that Sprint’s pricing is 50% lower than most plans at Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile and that “millions” (including him) have switched. 

“Can you hear that,” Marcarelli adds toward the end of the spot. 

Sprint advertising featuring Marcarelli made its debut Sunday night on ABC during Game 2 of the NBA Finals. The ads will also appear on cable and network TV stations nationwide and in print and digital channels. Out-of-home and radio ads will follow. 

Also, fans can follow Marcarelli on Twitter. 

“We’ve made tremendous advancements in our network during the past year,” said Marcelo Claure, Sprint president and CEO. “Within 1%. We don’t expect our customers would even notice such an insignificant difference.” 

“Using Paul in our advertising demonstrates loud and clear that it’s a new day in wireless,” Claure added. 

To encourage more customers to switch, Sprint is offering a 50% discount program off most current rate plans. That pricing extends to May 31, 2018. The carrier also has a program to cover many switching fees.