How would you feel about an ad playing at the beginning of your phone call?

Skinny Mobile has been ruffling feathers by playing pre-recorded adverts at the beginning of calls.

The temporary move has sparked backlash on social media, with some people calling it “dystopian” and “out of touch”.

The company’s marketing team said it expected the tough reception.

It has now confirmed it was an advertising campaign – put together by Clemenger BBDO creative director Hadleigh Sinclair.

“Some people were like, ‘oh this is the beginning of the end, this is late-stage capitalism, this is what they’re going to be doing putting ads in phone calls,’ which was never the case,” he said.

Sinclair said the idea was intentionally provocative.

“We were like, what if our customers were so willing to help us advertise Skinny that they would do the last thing you’d ever want and that’s put Skinny ads in their phone calls.”

Despite the criticism, more than 3000 customers chose to opt in to the campaign which ran from March through to late April, with 6.45 hours of ads played, according to a Skinny spokesperson.

Both the caller and recipient had to opt in for the ad, and the consent applied to only one call at a time.

Advertising expert and creative director at The Goat Farm, Vaughn Davis, says while it was temporary, we might see it more permanently in the future.

Vaughn Davis, owner and creative director of Auckland-based advertising and social media practice The Goat Farm. Photo / Supplied

He said the concept reflects a shift in how consumers approach pricing and advertising.

“If the price for a product is having ads in it, there’s an opportunity there. We already see that with free-to-air TV and radio,” Davis said.

“You’re already used to having your music interrupted with ads, and often those ads are for Spotify, so you can imagine someone in an ad agency saying, ‘what if we did that for phone calls?’.”

He believes ideas like this often start as attention-grabbing stunts, similar to a fashion catwalk featuring absurd items of clothing, before becoming more normalised and mainstream further down the track.

“There will be people who think, ‘instead of paying $40 a month, I’ll pay $5 and tolerate ads.’ There could be a legitimate business model there.”

Sinclair said the campaign is part of a broader strategy to stand out in a crowded market, where brands compete not just with each other but with “everyone on the internet”.

For Sinclair, success comes down to whether people are talking.

“Attention spans are so short, you’re wasting your time if you’re not trying to do something a bit spicy.”

He said the campaign was never meant to signal a wider shift toward ads in everyday interactions.

“It’s not the start of something that’s going to infiltrate people’s lives,” he said.

“It’s just another step in what a brand can do to engage, make you smile, make you laugh or make a few people think the end is nigh.”

Tobias Macintosh is a Newstalk ZB Multimedia Journalist, based in Wellington. He joined NZME in June 2025, after obtaining a Bachelor of Broadcasting Communications at the New Zealand Broadcasting School in Christchurch. Putting a spotlight on all things happening in and around the capital, he also has a keen eye on local politics, crime and justice, and foreign affairs.