“When I see a problem, I am going to fix it,” says Dolly Parton at the start of one of T-Mobile’s commercials for Super Bowl LVI. Anyone who knows Dolly knows that she can’t stand to see suffering in the world, and that goes for your phone. “5-G phones, trapped on limited 5G networks,” says Dolly, encouraging viewers to consider switching to T-Mobile so they can thrive on the networks they deserve.
And who can doubt the wisdom of Dolly? As Dolly says in her ad, she has her own theme park – and Dollywood recently announced that it would cover the tuition of its employees pursuing a college degree, per The Guardian. Add in the fact that Dolly donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University’s medical center, helping fund Moderna’s early COVID-19 vaccine research, and Dolly is the most trusted name in America today.
That’s why Miley Cyrus — sporting Loree Rodkin jewelry — wants to help. At the end of T-Mobile’s first commercial, Miley Facetimes Dolly and asks how she can assist these desperate phones. “You got a voice, Miley. Use it!” says Dolly, prompting Miley to write a charity single. “Do It For The Phones” might not replace “We Are The World” as the most known charity single, but it definitely wins for the catchiest earworm of Super Bowl LVI.
“What you have to try to do is keep the message super simple, but really land it big,” T-Mobile CCO Peter DeLuca said per AdWeek. “5G has been hyped in the US for almost three years, and phones have been sold for almost two and a half years. So there’s all of these 5G phones that Americans have been buying, but they haven’t been getting 5G.”
Fans knew that something magical was brewing in the commercial’s preview. The teaser asked the simple question: what happens if you’re in a jam? What do you do when your back is against the wall? Where do you turn when all the chips are down? The answer is, and always will be: Dolly Parton. The teaser saw Miley Cyrus turn to Dolly in a time of trouble. “You got a voice, Miley,” says Dolly while Facetiming her goddaughter. “Use it.” From there, Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” kicks in, and Miley, inspired by such motivation, gets to work. “What would Dolly do?” asks Miley at the end of the teaser. Good question, Miley.
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Dolly spoke highly of Miley in an EXCLUSIVE interview with HollywoodLife about Dolly’s line of Southern Style cakes and frostings with Duncan Hines. Dolly had nothing but good things to say when asked about Miley and Noah Cyrus singing “Jolene” at Miley’s New Year Eve Party. “Miley’s been singing that for years, and she did the 25th anniversary,” she told HollywoodLife, “and we filmed that at Dollywood years ago. And then Noah is a fantastic singer. I just think the two of them together are just incredible. Noah’s been having a lot of good success of her own [lately] And so they’re all so talented, Billy [Ray Cyrus] and his kids. I just think they’re both great. So, I was real honored that they still take the time to sing my song. They love ‘Jolene, and this worked out really good for them [and] they sound great together.”
Dolly even had a suggestion if Noah and Miley were to record their version of “Jolene” for a special 7″ – maybe a charity single for Dolly’s Imagination Library – for a future Record Store Day. “Probably ‘I Will Always Love You,'” Dolly tells HollywoodLife. “Because ‘Jolene’ and ‘I Will Always Love You,’ I wrote at the same time. Didn’t even realize that until years later and they are both on the same album [1974’s Jolene]. One came out and then the other, but I think that would be a good A and B side, because those are two of my very biggest songs.” So, that’s what Dolly would do, Miley.
However, it should be noted that Dolly isn’t Miley’s godmother – technically. But, who’s counting? “I worked with Billy Ray for all those years, when he had ‘Achy Breaky Heart,'” Dolly said during a 2019 interview with SiriusXM’s Just Jenny. “We just kind of gelled, ’cause we’re both country kids. We had a lot of fun just talking about that. And then when Miley came along, I said, ‘She’s got to be my fairy goddaughter.'” However, Dolly told Good Morning America in 2009 that the title is “honorary.”
However, that doesn’t make it any less valid. “Her father’s a friend of mine, and when she was born, he said, ‘You just have to be her godmother,’ and I said, ‘I accept.’ We never did do a big ceremony, but I’m so proud of her, love her and she’s just like one of my own.”