Verizon Commercial Stars Apollo Astronaut, Brevard Resident Buzz Aldrin

On By Littum

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Verizon renews its popular “Can you hear me now?” Advertising campaign and uses a letterard -resident to do so.

Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who lives in Satellite Beach, plays in a new Verizon advertising. It had recently premiered online and was watched by a TV audience for the first time under the 67th Grammy Awards Telecast this last Sunday.

The beginning of the ad has a shot of Aldrin recently 95, wearing aviator sunglasses.

“Sixty -seven years ago we conquered the moon. Now Verizon is conquering dead zones with satellites, and I help them do it, ”Aldrin says in a voiceover before pronouncing the brand’s updated catch phrase. “Can you text me now?”

He has looked at different remote places that send the phrase, “Can you send me a SMS now?” Always get the answer, “Yes.”

Eventually, a man who orbits in the room, the text and responds, “That’s my line.” It turns out that it is the original Verizon “Test Man”, actor Paul Marcarelli. He first appeared in Verizon commercials more than a decade ago and said the familiar phrase “Can you hear me now.”

Aldrin ends the latest commercial saying “It’s a huge leap for connection.” The line is a nod to the famous quote that his colleague Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong made when the two men were on the moon – “It’s a huge leap for humanity.”

Where Buzz Aldrin became part of the new Verizon advertising

Leslie Berland, CEO Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Verizon used words like legend and icon to describe Aldrin and said he was a “dream person” to be part of the advertisement.

“What he did in his career and in time, and what he does with us in this ad, we thought we were super fun and really bold,” Berland said.

Marcarelli told USA Today that working with Aldrin was “awe -inspiring and I really found myself Starstruck.”

Mike Snider, a US Today reporter, contributed to this report.