Ogilvy Debuts the ‘M Life’ in First Spots for Telecom

AT&T Wireless is expected to launch its new ad campaign from Ogilvy & Mather during the Super Bowl; the theme is, “Welcome to m life,” sources said.

The agency is hoping the line, which is short for “mobile life,” be comes part of the lexicon in the same way the term “e-business” has caught on.

The AT&T Wireless campaign, Ogilvy’s first since winning the $400 million global account in July, positions the telecom’s services as a form of freedom for humans, who were not meant to be “tethered to LAN [Local Area Network] lines,” one source said.

The first execution, which breaks Feb. 3 during the Super Bowl, shows a series of shots meant to illustrate how people start out physically connected but don’t need to remain so to communicate.

The spot opens on an African tribesman and cuts to a close-up of his navel. Next, the face of a man doing the backstroke and his bellybutton appear. This is followed by a shot of a pregnant woman and a teenage girl dancing; the next image is a close-up of their na vels. The final scene: a birth, complete with umbilical cord. A voice over says, “We were meant to lead a wireless life. Now we truly can. Welcome to m life. AT&T Wireless.”

Another spot shows various vignettes, and copy under consideration includes lines such as “Why do we have a love/hate relationship with goodbyes?” and “Why do we want to be alone, but never lonely?

“Is it because we are caught between the need to connect and the desire to be free? Why can’t we have both?”

Several proposed supertitles include “M life is here,” and “A life where you can connect in new ways to the people and the things you care about no matter where you are.”

The spot ends with, “Welcome to m life. AT&T Wireless.”

The client is also planning to air a spot during the Winter Olympics that will feature a speed skater, sources said. Both Ogilvy and AT&T Wireless declined comment.