Have you seen the “It’s Not Complicated” ads for AT&T, featuring a buttoned-up market research guy interrogating a roundtable of elementary-school students? Of course you have—there are approximately a hundred of them. The ubiquitous ads expertly leverage the cuteness of their pint-size characters in the service of making viewers want to sign a contract with AT&T.
Now the same premise is being leveraged in the service of a much more noble cause: showing off an insanely good Rust Cohle impression. In two parodies of the AT&T spots, actor Ross Marquand emulates the nihilistic philosophical meandering made famous by Matthew McConaughey’s character in True Detective. And it doesn’t go over any better with the kids than it did with Gilbough and Papania.
