The AT&T television campaign touting wireless connections virtually anywhere finally hit a more realistic cord with their most recent installment featuring Olympic gold-medal winner, Michael Phelps. The commercial felt more relevant because it was about speed rather than about the card’s ability to locate a wireless connection in places you’ll never be — like Amelia Aerheart’s crash site, the North Pole, the fountain of youth, and the end of the rainbow. Although those commercials were somewhat interesting conceptually, they fell flat in execution. The promise was “locate a signal anywhere,” and really, how many times have you pulled out your laptop on while scaling to the summit of Kilimanjaro?

The new spot actually promised a more important benefit. Speed. And it did so in a more relevant fashion than the others. Even though the spot strayed slightly from the initial creative direction, they kept its tone and delivery consistent — minimal interaction between announcer and the location while the deadpan delivery touted the product’s benefits. The final shot shows the announcer emblazoned with Phelps’ eight gold medals and donning the little black swimming cap, in which he looks absolutely ridiculous.

Final note: I applaud the production team for avoiding the temptation to have Michael Phelps talk. Good decision.