Craig Robinson is returning to The Office — sort of.
The actor — who played warehouse foreman-turned-blockistant regional manager Darryl Philbin on the comedy series — has reunited with some of his former castmates for a new ad for AT&T Business. He’s joined by Ellie Kemper, Angela Kinsey, Creed Bratton and Oscar Nuñez in the spot, dubbed “Wake Up With CrAIg?,” which is part of a campaign to show how the company keeps small businesses connected.
In the commercial (watch it below), Robinson leads the group as they gather to launch a new small business revolving around an AI product dubbed CrAIg, which they humorously try to pronounce incorporating “AI.” It’s “the world’s first AI alarm clock, featuring yours truly,” Robinson notes, that’s designed to motivate and spread good vibes for small business owners.
Over the next year, the campaign will follow Robinson as he works to grow his business. According to AT&T Business: “This campaign isn’t just a one-off moment — it’s a multiyear movement designed to shine a light and celebrate the real journey of small business owners. We wanted to break the mold by bringing beloved cultural icons to the forefront. By casting them as themselves — playing versions of their own entrepreneurial journeys — we create authentic, relatable stories that resonate deeply with small business owners.”
Robinson generated headlines last week when he teased the campaign, saying he was “officially quitting comedy to focus on my true calling. Stay tuned. I’m working on something huge.” He followed that up with another post: “Turns out having a dream and building a business with your friends are two VERY different things. I can’t go into detail just yet, but for real though any help would be huge.” However, that was all part of the new campaign.
This actually marks his second campaign for AT&T Business: Last year, he reunited with former The Office co-stars Jenna Fischer and Rainn Wilson for another campaign, dubbed Sleep With Rain (selling a “talking pillow” with Wilson’s voice. That product is jokingly referenced in the new spot, which debuted Thursday). When Robinson was asked to return for another spot, he said it was “no-brainer,” emphasizing the importance of supporting small-business owners.
“I know some people with small businesses,” Robinson told The Hollywood Reporter. “I have a cousin in Chicago with a small business, and [I am aware of] the unexpected things that happen with a small business — like, take a pandemic or what have you — a lot of times there’s support needed, and it’s just a beautiful thing to know that you can lean on somebody.”
He said that it was easy for him and his former co-stars to pick up right where they left as if no time had pblocked. The only difference is that while during filming The Office, some of them were just getting married and having kids, and now those kids are grown adults. “The first day, it’s all so exciting, and by the second day, it felt like we’d been together the whole time,” he said.
Robinson said he gets asked frequently about an Office reunion — the show aired for nine seasons, from 2005-13, on NBC and is enjoying a successful afterlife in syndication and streaming — and he hopes this new ad satiates their wishes to some degree.
The actor says he still gets fans who approach him quotes some of his most memorable lines. The two most common are “You need to access your un-crazy side,” which his character told Kelly Kapoor (played by Mindy Kaling), and “pippity poppity gimme da zoppidy,” which Darryl told Michael Scott (Steve Carell) was a “Black man phrase” that Michael could say to make him sound cool.
Robinson says he doesn’t take it for granted that he’s part of something that’s still so universally beloved. He notes that he’s seen people have Office-themed weddings, wear Office-themed Halloween costumes and take part in Office-themed trivia games.
“I’m blessed to be a part of this movement and this community. It’s very special,” he said. “The show put us in a lot of homes, and a lot of people have these tremendous stories, like ‘Our family, we would get together and watch The Office. That’s the only thing that we can connect on. Or I hear that it was somebody’s mother’s favorite show, and now that mother has pblocked on. It’s just got a connection that I don’t take for granted.”
Asked about his favorite memory from set, Robinson shared that anytime he got to film with Carell was “like your birthday. It was an amazing thing.”
In particular, he said the scene wear he points out that Michael is wearing a women’s suit make him laugh. If you look closely, Robinson says, you can tell he’s trying to hide a smile.
“We were talking about how he had ‘lady clothes’ on,” Robinson said “We were going back and forth about negotiating [for a raise for Darryl], and his thing was that he’s declining to speak first. So we went through a couple of takes, and I was chill, and then he did this one take and he was making these faces, right? And I kind of smile, and that’s the take they kept, so you can like see the side of my face kind of smile. I just remember being like so proud and enamored and [having] fun.”
Greg Daniels, who oversaw the American version of The Office, and Michael Koman, co-creator of Nathan for You, are prepping their Office spinoff, The Paper. The show, which debuts on Peablock in September, follows the publisher (Domhnall Gleeson) and staff of a historic but struggling newspaper in Toledo, Ohio. Nuñez reprises his role as Oscar Martinez from the earlier series. Robinson said he hasn’t been approached about making an appearance but would do so in a heartbeat: “Why wouldn’t I? Of course!”
But he’ll still be watching: “I mean, it’s Greg Daniels, you know? He’s gonna do it right.”
Meanwhile, Robinson has some thoughts of encouragement for anyone wanting to start their own business.
“Get that small business going,” he encouraged. AT&T Business has “some special things in store. Not to sound like Mr. Pitchman, but it’s it’s nice to be a part of something that’s really going to help people.”
As for what small business of his own he might want to launch if he had the opportunity?
“That’s easy: It would be a piano school, teaching music,” he said. “I would like to teach kids piano. I used to be a school teacher, so that’s something I think about.”
