It’s a typical day in Toronto. People travel by bus, taxi, train, bicycle, car. But today something is different. There’s a new face to the city today. A baby face. The voiceover: “When something great happens you want everyone to see it. That’s why there’s now a network that lets you be the first to take send and receive images mobile to mobile. Life’s better with pictures. Get more. T-Mobile.”
The same image, a baby smiling for the camera, appears twenty times in the city.
1, 2, 3 News agent’s stand
4, 5 Cafe newpaper and on the coffee mug
6. Being pasted onto a huge billboard (see picture)
7. Moving on a pedestrian’s sandwich board
8. Featured on a hotdog stand and on newspaper stands
9. Electronic billboard reflected in a puddle
10. On the side of a bus as it passes an alley
11. In a shop window
12. On another billboard
13. In a laundry, on the clothes spinning in front loading dryer
14. Back to the newspaper stand by the hot dog stand
15. Through a moving train we see the photo on the side of the railway platform
16. On shopping bags getting out of a taxi
17. Plastered to a sidewalk
18. In the photocopying room
19. Back to the huge billboard
20. Screening on a stadium billboard
21. Mobile phone capturing the image of a baby
Credits
The Baby Face ad was developed at BBH, London, by copywriter David Chalu and art director Stephen Rutterford.
Filming was shot by director Peter Thwaites via Gorgeous Films, London, with director of photography Stuart Graham.
T-Mobile UK, formerly One 2 One, is the UK network of T-Mobile International, which in turn is one of four divisions of Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s second-biggest telecom company. T-Mobile UK was launched in April 2002, succeeding the One 2 One company.
Part of the mystique of this 2002 T-Mobile TV ad is the soundtrack, “So Easy”, provided by Norwegian Duo, Röyksopp. The ambient electronic dance number was the first track on Röyksopp’s album, Melody AM, released by Wall of Sound in October 2001. Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge recorded “So Easy” by sampling a cover of Burt Bacharach’s “Blue on Blue” by 1960s Swedish vocal group Gals and Pals.
“Blue on blue, heartache on heartache
Blue on blue, now that we are through”
I love this ad but until recently was unaware that it is not New York City at all! I assumed as I think most others did that it was indeed a typical Big Apple day. It was only on a visit to Toronto, Canada did I notice that it was filmed there. When I watched the ad again, I noticed the subtle clues.. in the subway you can clearly see a blue “Toronto Star” sign, as a man buys a hotdog a Canadian flag can be seen hanging from the Toronto Stock Exchange in the background, the cabs are green and orange, you can see TTC (Toronto Transport Commision) on buses and the streets have tram lines, which of course NYC streets do not. Finally the skyline makes it unmistakable as Toronto – the Bank of Montreal and Scotia Plaza towers are clearly visible.
Ive heard that Toronto often masqueraded as NYC in ads and movies but this is the first time Ive actually seen it and I was completely duped by it… I was convinced that it was NYC and didnt pick up on the clues. Well done Toronto and well done to the advertisers!
Hey there from Sunny South Africa, just wandering if there is any where on the net that I can show this awesome advert to my friends back home! – That’s the T-Mobile one with the baby everywhere! THANKS!
Hi Elsa. I’ve listed three places you can play the ad in the post above. To play the links click on the hyperlinks.
3.35 mb quicktime and 3.42 WMV video.
10 mb mpeg file
I have searched so hard for this advert because i had it on a film that i taped off TV in 2002 and i love the song. Now i can buy the song! hooray!