The Story Behind Verizon's Smokin' Summer Pitch With Stephen Kalyn

Why they banned the word "commercial" from the set

Verizon just launched a streamlined, flat-rate Simplicity Plan. How to hype the offer? Hire heartthrob Stephen Kalyn, the star of Amazon Prime’s Off Campus, to strut around minimalist sets and pose seductively on a sofa, how else?

“It’s you. It’s only you. You’re the one,” dude begins. “There’s no confusion. I’m done with the noise. Done with the games. Every word, every promise is real.”

Sex sells. It’s that simple.

And it’s darn effective, too, with Steve’s studly monochrome musings earning nearing 10 million views across all platforms since its launch a few weeks ago.

Verizon’s teasing proves pleasing, with a faux-artsy approach that lends a touch of camp to the … affair. The commercial doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s a big part of its charm. Form meets function, with the set-up mirroring the straightforward nature of the Simplicity Plan.

The work channels Peloton’s recent hot spot with Hudson Williams—who, like Kalyn, plays a hockey star on a hit series—and the sensual couch surfing of Calvin Klein’s uber-popular 2024 effort featuring Jeremy Allen White.

Verizon’s in-house team created the commercial with production help from Ogilvy and Anonymous Content. Bardia Zeinali directed.

Here, Ricardo Aspiazu, SVP of creative & brand design at Verizon, explains how the brand brought the heat:

MUSE: Why cast Stephen?

If you want to connect with culture, you have to actually be invited to the party. Right now, Stephen Kalyn is the party. Everyone is watching Off Campus, but we didn’t just want to drop him into a telco ad. We wanted to do something unique. A first for us and a first for Stephen.

The work resembles retro fashion appeals. That was intentional, yes?

The idea really sparked from a simple realization: the wireless industry is notoriously, agonizingly complicated. We wanted to launch our Simplicity plan by doing the exact opposite. We looked at those iconic, stripped-back 90s Calvin Klein ads, which are pure nostalgia and cultural gold, and realized that stripping away the noise is actually incredibly alluring. So we put Stephen in a moody, dramatically lit studio, turned down the volume and let him sell a phone plan like it was a luxury fragrance.

What’s the brand takeaway?

The takeaway is immediate: Simplicity is sexy. It works for Verizon because it proves we aren’t just listening to the zeitgeist, we’re actively shaping it.

Who is the target audience? What’s their call to action?

Our audience isn’t defined by a demographic; they’re defined by a shared frustration. Everyone, from Gen Z to Boomers, is exhausted by the modern tech tax, the hidden fees, the fine print, the sheer madness of legacy industries putting bureaucracy over good sense.

When people watch this, I don’t want them to feel like they’re being sold to. I want them to feel a collective sigh of relief. It’s an antidote to the chaos. The call to action isn’t a flashing “Buy Now” button; it’s a mindset shift. We want them to realize that Verizon is drawing a line in the sand. We’re done with the complexity. We’re making wireless simple, and yes, we’re making it look good, too.

There must be some fun anecdotes from the shoot…

The energy on set was electric because everyone knew we were making something inherently unconventional. From day one, we banned the words “commercial” and “ad spot.” We weren’t building a marketing campaign; we were creating entertainment.

When you put a massive cultural star like Stephen in a completely bare, cinematic environment, there is nowhere to hide. You can’t rely on flashy graphics or loud music. It forced us to rely entirely on pure storytelling and performance.

The best moment was watching the crew realize that, blocks away from the usual corporate noise, we were essentially shooting a high-fashion art piece for a wireless company. That’s how you cut through the static.