- Ali Wong stars in Vodafone Australia's third campaign chapter via Howatson+Company, this time targeting overseas roaming fees.
- Filmed at Rome's Trevi Fountain, the ad pokes fun at rival telcos charging up to $10 a day to roam, versus Vodafone's flat $5 rate.
- It's Wong's third spot for the brand since March 2026, following an "outback" launch ad and a Telstra-needling follow-up.
- The campaign keeps Wong's blunt comic persona front and center, continuing a value-pricing message Vodafone has pushed all year.
Vodafone Australia is sending Ali Wong to Rome for round three of its roaming-fee takedown. Standing knee-deep in the Trevi Fountain, the comedian tosses out her trademark bluntness, comparing rival telcos’ pricey roaming charges to throwing money in “this giant human bird bath,” right before a tourist’s coin bonks her on the forehead.
She snaps back into pitch mode: with Vodafone, customers can use their existing plan in over 100 destinations for $5 a day, no caps, no add-ons.
The spot, created by Howatson+Company, is the third installment in Wong’s run with the telco. She debuted the partnership in March with an outback-set ad challenging Australians to stop paying for coverage they don’t use, then returned in May for a Telstra-baiting follow-up featuring a mock legal team trying to “silence” her.
For Wong, the deal sits apart from her usual portfolio, built more on content than brand work, including her Emmy-winning Netflix specials and a 2026 stand-up tour.
It’s a similar comedic spokesperson play to Craig Robinson reuniting with The Office cast for AT&T’s “Wake Up with Craig” campaign, or Keegan-Michael Key fronting Casamigos’ World Cup 2026 push alongside Gabrielle Union.
For Vodafone, Wong joins a roster of past endorsers spanning Formula 1’s Fernando Alonso, tennis star Emma Raducanu, and Italian TV host Alessandro Cattelan.
Takeaways
Comedians-as-pricing-mascots is having a moment; brands are betting that a sharp punchline lands harder than a feature-list ad. Vodafone’s also playing a risky game baiting Telstra by name (sort of) repeatedly, a strategy that’s already drawn regulatory scrutiny once this year.
Does repeat-character advertising (the “Ali Wong saga”) build more brand recall than one-off spots? Does using an American comedian to mock “Aussie” telco norms help or hurt authenticity with local audiences?
