No Foolin’: T-Mobile Leads a Movement to Transform This April 1 from a Day of High Jinx to a Day of High Fives

The Un-carrier rallies everyone — including big brands — to #GiveThanksNotPranks this April Fools’ and kicks it off with $500K for teachers to outfit classrooms for students 

What’s the news: T-Mobile is calling on everyone to pause the pranks on April Fools’ Day this year and instead focus on gratitude. Everyone can use a pick-me-up after a tough year, so the Un-carrier, alongside other brands, has launched a movement to #GiveThanksNotPranks this April 1 — starting with an up to $500K donation to support teachers and students.

Why it matters: Showing appreciation to some of the people who make our lives better on the daily and who have gotten us through the last year is the least we can do during these complex times. Also, studies show that acts of gratitude lead to more gratitude … so let’s get to the thanking!

Who it’s for: Everyone! Because now, in particular, everyone has something — and someone — to be thankful for.

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) is known for its legendary April Fools’ Day pranks, but the Un-carrier is once again shaking up the status quo and challenging everyone to ditch the shenanigans on April 1 and instead show their appreciation. Inspired by a study finding that those who witness even a single act of gratitude are more inspired to join in and express gratitude themselves, T-Mobile is igniting a chain reaction of thankfulness in a year where we all could use a little extra love, calling on customers, employees, fans, brands and companies to join a movement to transform April 1 into something a little less foolish and #GiveThanksNotPranks.

Motorola, OnePlus, SanMar, Wattpad, Mattress Firm, Sleep.com and Drone Racing League have already pledged their support to join the movement with T-Mobile. They’ll pause the pranks and instead give donations to non-profit organizations and drive a wave of shout-outs through their social media channels with the #GiveThanksNotPranks hashtag. TikTok is participating too, bringing their community in with a hashtag challenge.

And the Un-carrier is not stopping there! T-Mobile announced it is getting #GiveThanksNotPranks started by partnering with its customers and fans to help give $500,000 through the nonprofit education crowdfunding site DonorsChoose to help our country’s hardworking and often under resourced teachers purchase critical classroom supplies to support students — a small token of gratitude after a year of educators and teachers adapting to all the changes in learning during the pandemic.

“T-Mobile has always had so much fun pulling big stunts on April Fools’ Day, but once again, it just makes sense to refocus all of that energy to transform this day and instead send thanks to every hero who has gone above and beyond to keep us all afloat in these challenging times. And we’re so excited that so many great brands are joining us! So, who else is in?” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile. “I love that we’re kicking it all off by recognizing our amazing teachers and helping them better support our students. T-Mobile has a longstanding commitment to education and we launched our Project 10Million initiative just this past year at the same time as so many of our country’s teachers and students had to completely change the way they were teaching and learning. So, this is a perfect way to say thank you for all their efforts and get them better set up for the future!”

The #GiveThanksNotPranks movement begins on March 22. T-Mobile and its partner brands will donate to meaningful causes and encourage their customers to share the love by using the #GiveThanksNotPranks hashtag in social media through April 1. Then, starting March 30 through April 1, T-Mobile is partnering with TikTok to rally its community to participate and share out thanks through a hashtag challenge. To date, companies already confirmed as participating include:

• Donating to DonorsChoose: Motorola, OnePlus, SanMar, Wattpad and Drone Racing League
• Donating to #FirstRespondersFirst: Mattress Firm and Sleep.com

Also starting March 22 and going through April 1, T-Mobile is doubling down on its longstanding commitment to support education and giving its customers and fans three simple ways to help provide public school educators critical supplies they need to teach students through partner DonorsChoose — everything from pens and paper to crayons and notebooks. Here’s how:

• Share: Customers and fans can thank any person who has gone the extra mile by sharing stories on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with #GiveThanksNotPranks. T-Mobile will donate $5 to DonorsChoose for each post up to the $500,000 campaign total.
• Donate: T-Mobile will match individual donations made directly to its DonorsChoose campaign up to the $500,000 campaign total.
• Text: Customers and fans can donate $5 of their own to DonorsChoose by texting THANKS to 50555.

Companies, brands, customers, fans — everyone — is invited to join the #GiveThanksNotPranks movement. For more information, follow @TMobile on Twitter and visit https://www.givethanksnotpranks.com/.

Text to Give: Donation confirmed via text; message & data rates may apply. Donation added to your next bill.

About T-Mobile

T-Mobile U.S. Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) is America’s supercharged Un-carrier, delivering an advanced 4G LTE and transformative nationwide 5G network that will offer reliable connectivity for all. T-Mobile’s customers benefit from its unmatched combination of value and quality, unwavering obsession with offering them the best possible service experience and undisputable drive for disruption that creates competition and innovation in wireless and beyond. Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands, T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile and Sprint. For more information please visit: https://www.t-mobile.com.