Apple TV+ has announced a new series from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, yet we know almost nothing about it. We first heard about the new series through a social media post of a smiley face in a petri-dish, we then got our (very vague) first look at what was revealed to be called Pluribus after a fake countdown was posted online. While we do know that the show will star Rhea Seehorn, who I can now assume will play a woman called Carol (more on that later), what Pluribus is actually about is open to interpretation.
Here’s a rundown of what we see in the seconds-long Pluribus teaser. It opens with a wide shot of what appears to be a prison with a guard standing in the frame, then zooms in for an up-close look at the guard licking doughnuts and then placing them in a box. Linking back to the original teaser image shared on social beforehand, which featured the tagline 'Happiness is contagious' accompanied by a Petri dish containing a smiley face, we see a sign that reads 'Help Yourself' with the same smiley face.
And that’s literally all we know… until now. Apple TV+ has released a phone number without explanation, showing Carol being asked to call it under “no pressure”. It’s not even a message meant for me, but I couldn’t help calling it to find out more. What I found, amazingly, was even more shocking and baffling than what I’d already seen.
I still don’t understand what Apple TV+’s new show from Breaking Bad is about after calling its ominous phone number
I’ve taken on the burden so you don’t have to. If you were to call the phone number from the above advert, here’s exactly what you’d hear:
It begins: "Hi Carol. We're so glad you called. We can't wait for you to join us. Dial 0 and we'll get back to you via text message." Obviously, I’m not Carol, but I did dial “0” to get the next part of the message.
"Please know your life is your own, Carol. You have agency!" (Again, my name is not Carol.) "That being said, Reply YES to sign up for updates from AppleTV+ and agree to our terms of use and Privacy Policy. Freq varies, consent not a condition of purchase, msg & data rates apply. Reply STOP to cancel, HELP for help."
Slightly more boring, but even for a fictitious marketing stunt, Apple has to get its boilerplate T&Cs for SMS marketing in there somehow. I replied “Yes” and got this response:
"You must have so many questions for us! Understand, we only want to make you happy. We'll be in touch soon. Text STOP to stop, HELP for help.”
So logic tells me I’m going to be hearing from the mysterious Pluribus voice at some point in the future. What it will say, I do not know. When it will arrive, I cannot say. Who is Carol? Maybe I’ll never find out. Maybe she never called the number back. Maybe I’m Carol and my parents read my birth certificate wrong.
Currently, the only clue for what on earth is going on is the title itself. ‘Pluribus’ is a Latin word meaning ‘many’ or ‘more’. It's most famously used in the phrase ‘E pluribus unum’, which translates to ‘Out of many, one’. If we apply this to what we’ve seen, Carol is our one… but one of what, we’ve got no idea.
I’d bet any money that Apple TV+ and Gilligan are going to eke this marketing campaign out as much as they can. Clearly, I’ll be getting part of it sent directly to me, and I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry in anticipation.
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