I know it’s not the most stunning bit of news to post since my return from San Francisco, but it looks like there may be one immediate casualty of Sprint and Nextel’s corporate union becoming official: the Sprint guy.
Sprint’s headquarters are in Overland Park, Kansas, and according to The Kansas City Star [free registration bypass can be found here], Brian Baker, a.k.a. Sprint Guy/The Man in Black actually found out about his potential state of limbo in the paper. The guy’s been in some 150 commercials since the late 1990s and, according to the article, “became one of the best-known pitchmen in the history of American advertising.” I’m not so sure about the accuracy of that statement, but he’s far superior to the fuzzy-haired, bespectacled Verizon dude incessantly blurting out his master’s mind-numbing catch phrase.
The article is full of random tidbits: Baker made People magazine’s 2001 list of the sexiest men alive, and a year later he married hottie Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).
Anywho, Sprint Nextel peeps quoted in the article claim that Baker was never called about the news because he’s still under contract and will apparently stay that way until sometime next year. Until then, Baker’s online fan club, sprint.justmango.com, will apparently have to sate themselves on reruns. All I know is that if Sprint Guy returns, I better not hear the walkie talkie beep for the duration of the commercial. If so, I’ll wish he never came back.