Sprint Says “Let’s Rename This Band”

Sprint Encourages Audience to Submit a New Name for the Band Yerkish

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), April 27, 2011 – If you think you have the perfect name for a rock band, now’s your chance to find out. Part of a new marketing campaign from Sprint, “Let’s rename this band,” asks for potential new names for the band Yerkish, a progressive rock band from Denver.

Let’s rename this band is the most recent element of the new “All. Together. Now.” advertising campaign from Sprint, which celebrates the growing importance of what people are doing with their mobile devices – talking, texting, emailing, posting videos, tweeting and updating their Facebook pages. The campaign encourages even more fun, uplifting social interaction with one another, such as renaming a band or wishing a Missouri woman a happy 100^th birthday.

Names for the band can be submitted online at sprint.com/alltogethernow, now until midnight (EDT) Friday, April 29. Names also can be submitted on the homepage of YouTube (youtube.com) for one day only beginning at 12:01 a.m. (EDT) Friday, April 29, and ending at midnight. Once the submission sites close, the band will select the winning name, which will be announced on May 11 at sprint.com/alltogethernow.

To see a video of the band and hear a sampling of its music go to sprint.com/alltogethernow. The site features a photo of the band with the headline “Let’s Rename This Band,” and “Together we can give Yerkish a bajillion new names to choose from and help them go from a good band to a great one.” Other elements of the Sprint All. Together. Now. campaign are also available on the site so users may have to scroll to the left or right to find the band’s photo and watch the video.

“I couldn’t believe how fortuitous this was,” said the band’s lead singer, Tim Kaminski. “About two weeks before we were approached about this concept, we had been talking about a new name for the band. We’d lost our drummer, who was a founding member of the band, and it seemed like a good time to move forward with a new name. So the timing was perfect – change the name of the band and have this wonderful huge Internet push behind it from a great brand like Sprint. For us, it just made sense.”

The video opens by asking the question, “What is Yerkish?” and shows several on-the-street interviews with people offering humorous off-the-wall answers. The band is then shown discussing what they do for their “day jobs” and moves to a clip of the band showing where they used to practice … in a building with bullet holes in the doors. Regarding the new name, the band’s only request is that people refrain from the words “boys” or “stars.” The video ends with Kaminski saying, “We’re from the band Yerkish, soon to be named something else.”

Yerkish began performing in Denver in 2005 and has produced one full album, two EPs and a digital-video EP. In addition to Kaminski on vocals, band members are Nate Huisgen on guitar, Brent Moran on bass, and Alvin Ramos on percussion.

The increased mobile interaction is possible without worry for Sprint customers with the Sprint Simply Everything^® data plan, which allows customers to use their mobile phones as much as they want without unexpected surprises on their monthly bills due to data overage charges or throttling – which is a means of slowing down the user – like they might see with plans from other national wireless carriers.

The Sprint Simply Everything plan offers more value and simplicity than most other wireless carriers because it is the only plan from a national carrier to offer true unlimited service while on the Sprint network for every phone without the worry of throttling or overage. The Simply Everything Plan delivers unlimited text, Web and calling and includes email, social networking, GPS Navigation, TV and radio while on the Sprint 3G and 4G networks for $99.99 per month, plus a required $10 Premium Data add-on charge per line for smartphones (pricing excludes surcharges and taxes). For more information, visit sprint.com/unlimited.

The Everything Data plan with Any Mobile, Anytime^SM includes unlimited text, Web and calling to and from any mobile in America while on the Sprint network, starting at just $69.99 per month plus a required $10 Premium Data add-on charge per line for smartphones – a savings of $39.99 per month vs. Verizon’s comparable plan with unlimited talk, text and Web (pricing excludes surcharges and taxes).

Sprint customers get more with unlimited data plans on the Sprint network. Sprint offers real simplicity, value and savings vs. other national competitors, making it easy for customers to get the most out of their phones without using a calculator to tally up costs, worry about how much data they’ve used, or whether their data will be slowed.

Sprint Everything Data plans and Simply Everything plans qualify for automatic enrollment in the Sprint Premier^SM loyalty program¹. Current Sprint customers can switch to an Everything Data plan without extending their service agreement. New lines of service require a two-year service agreement.

As the first national wireless carrier to test, launch and market 4G technology, Sprint made history by launching 4G in Baltimore in September 2008. Sprint, America’s Favorite 4G Network², offers 4G service in 71 markets in 28 states. For more information, visit sprint.com/4G.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 49.9 million customers at the end of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

¹To qualify for Sprint Premier Silver, customers must have a three-month average monthly recurring charge (MRC) of individual plans of $69.99 – $89.98. To qualify for Sprint Premier Gold, customers must have a three-month average MRC of individual plans of $99.99.
²Based on number of Sprint 4G subscribers vs. those on other wireless 4G (WiMAX and LTE) networks in the United States.