Carly Foulkes, T-Mobile Girl, Fired: A 'New Direction,' Says Company (VIDEO)
Carly Foulkes, the "T-Mobile Girl" responsible for having viewers equate the mobile cellular company with shy smiles and frilly pink sundresses, has reportedly been fired. The model for the company has not been seen in T-Mobile's new "Uncarrier" campaign despite several promotional events being held.
Carly Foulkes run as the T-Mobile girl is over at least for now, and that fact became obvious with the company's announcement that they were carrying the iPhone 5 and abandoning 2-year contracts. The significant shift in market strategy was especially evident when their spokesperson wasn't in attendance at any events or advertisements.
"The current campaign will not feature the character of the T-Mobile Girl," a company spokesperson told Business Insider, "however she is still a part of the company's brand family."
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What this means isn't immediately clear, but various media outlets are reporting that T-Mobile has simply left itself a back-up plan- if the new campaign doesn't do well, for example, they could always bring back Foulkes to ease consumers with a familiar face.
Regardless, the T-Mobile Girl's sudden hiatus- February of this year, the Canadian actress' commercials were still being aired- is a reflection of the new direction the company is undertaking.
"As T-Mobile un-leashes its bold new plans to reinvent the way people purchase wireless, we'll be launching a new brand and advertising campaign to clearly show consumers how T-Mobile is shaking up the restrictive industry model," the company wrote to the Huffington Post in an email.
"This campaign represents a new direction for the brand- offering consumers a simple choice. … We're shooting from the hip and think you're gonna love our cage-rattling approach," the representative added.
Not much is known about what is in store for the 24-year-old actress and model. Five weeks ago she revealed via Instagram that she was attending an audition, possibly to find another job. However, she still tweeted T-Mobile's Twitter when the iPhone 5 news broke, saying "That's awesome!" so perhaps she isn't completely gone yet.
