4 Reasons We’re Crazy About the New Spectrum Mobile Ad with the Brilliant Scientist

It's only 30 seconds long, but a new Spectrum Mobile TV commercial is packed with enough sexism-countering messages to fuel a graduate-school thesis or two. The ad wants to tell you how smart it is to save 40 percent on your mobile phone bill by switching to Spectrum's nationwide 5G service, and it uses a relatable, older female scientist to make the point.

Here's the set up: The scientist walks into her lab, and excitedly tells two younger colleagues about her new phone. "It's literally the smartest thing I've ever done," she says as she unpacks the box. The male technician says, looking up from his work, "You split an atom with a soda bottle and two straws." The scientist replies, "Oh yeah, that was kind of an accident."