The SmartLess Guys Brainstorm Ideas for a Mobile Phone Service

It goes exactly how you'd expect

The SmartLess podcasters need a catchphrase for their U.S. mobile service?

Sounds like a job for that Not-So-Dark-Knight: Bate-man!

Or maybe not, judging from the spots below. Still, Jason B., Will Arnett and Sean Hayes are amusing as ever in a deadpan spoof of marketing memes and corporate culture.

Have they tried asking BATman for help? He might have some ideas.

“Our podcast now reaches millions of listeners each month, almost all of whom listen on their phones,” says Bateman. “Extending the brand into mobile is a logical next step.”

“In January 2024, we were asked to go to Los Angeles to pitch some ideas to the SmartLess guys,” says Tara Lawall, CCO at Rethink New York, which developed the campaign. “I’m a HUGE fan of the podcast, so this was a true ‘meet your heroes’ moment.”

“They also invited Mitch Hurwitz, creator of Arrested Development, to hear our ideas and brainstorm with us,” she tells Muse. “This almost set me over the edge. I was so wildly nervous because I so badly wanted to impress this room of people. Imagine, having to pitch them scripts written in their own voices, saying, ‘And then, Jason, you Jason…’ while staring directly at Jason Bateman’s face.”

“A couple times, he built on the jokes I was saying in real time and my soul left my body. When they laughed, I felt complete euphoria. When they didn’t, I contemplated walking into the Hollywood Hills, never to return.”

Sam Jones, who directed the SmartLess roadtrip doc, lensed the commercials.