T-Mobile's #GiveThanksNotPranks April's Fools campaign will match your coronavirus donations
Apart from its usual Tuesday sweepstakes that the Uncarrier already announced last week, it clarified that it won't be releasing an April's Fools prank this year, in line with the coronavirus times. A #GiveThanksNotPranks campaign, however, will commence tomorrow, April 1st, and will match up to $500,000 in your donations as well.
First off, you can text THANKS to 50555, and T-Mobile will match your $5 donation, up to $300, 000. Next in line are tweets with the @TMobile tag and the #GiveThanksNotPranks hash that express gratitude to those in the frontline of the fight with the deadly COVID-19 infection.
For each of your tweets, T-Mobile will donate a buck until a $200,000 threshold is reached, for a total of half a million in donations. The proceeds will go the Boys & Girls Clubs of America COVID-19 Relief Fund, as the organization has retooled to maintain operations by helping anyone in need, from delivering meals to disadvantaged families, to helping first responders and healthcare workers with their chores and childcare while they are busy fighting the virus.
As per John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, now is not the time for elaborate pranks, and he'd rather that energy go to doing good for somebody:
It’s no secret that we love a good prank at T-Mobile, but right now, there’s nothing more important than the health and safety of our world. So we’re exchanging pranks for thanks, so EVERYONE can make a difference for our nation’s healthcare heroes and families in need. And to deepen the impact, I’m asking every other company to join us in support of the hashtag, to ditch the stunts this year and donate to the charities of your choice on April 1st. So slip on that T-Mobile ONEsie or those Sidekicks if you want, and share your stories with us on Twitter using #GiveThanksNotPranks. Your kindness could mean half a million dollars for people on the frontlines of this pandemic.
T-Mobile listed a couple of evergreen pranks it did on past April's Fools days to tide you over until the pandemic has passed, and we can all return to normalcy, like the immortal Sidekicks one below.
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Things that are NOT allowed: