T-Mobile’s Carly trades dresses for a Ducati in company-wide ‘brand refresh’

Without an exciting exclusive phone or new LTE network on the horizon, T-Mobile is hoping to stay on customers’ radar with new advertising, so mascot Carly Foulkes will soon be ditching her trademark pink sundress. An upcoming ad will apparently show a leather-clad Carly throwing her dress on the ground, then jetting off on a motorcycle with the tagline “No More Mr. Nice Girl.” Since little is edgier than an immaculately groomed brunette on a magenta Ducati, we imagine competitors will have quite the act to follow.

Senior VP Peter DeLuca has told AllThingsD that the new spots are part of a company-wide effort to make people “take a second look” at T-Mobile. The ads are meant not only to showcase the HTC One S, which will be coming soon to T-Mobile, but to downplay the fact that the company still has neither the iPhone nor enough spectrum to launch the 4G LTE network it wants to build. T-Mobile has invited customers with unlocked iPhones to come over to its network, but a new promotional site will try to convince visitors that native T-Mobile phones are still a better choice. In order to cut costs, it’s also laying off employees and considering selling current cell towers, a spokesperson has confirmed. Meanwhile, we’ll miss Carly’s benevolent face smiling down at us when we step out of Penn Station.