Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Verizon and Snap are partnering up to spread the gospel of 5G through Snapchat. The companies announced their joint effort today, which will involve Verizon preloading Snapchat onto some of its 5G phones. Snap will give Verizon ad placement in its Snap Originals programming, and it will also work with Verizon’s 5G Labs to build augmented reality experiences for live events and Verizon marketing activations.
The Gen Z-oriented Snapchat might seem like a mismatch for the extremely bland Verizon brand — especially given that the initial 5G rollout has been heavily focused on enterprise uses — but that might be exactly why Verizon wants to team up with Snap. It offers a way to show off its tech without having to point to faster connections…