Who Is That T-Mobile Spokeswoman?

Carly Foulkes
Carly Foulkes

Sitting around watching TV this Thanksgiving weekend, many viewers must have caught commercials for T-Mobile. Web interest in the cell phone carrier's brunette spokesperson Carly Foulkes is through the roof.

Well, kind of. Many admirers didn't exactly know her name, so they searched on a variety of terms to help identify the pink-and-white-clad spokesperson.

Online lookups for "t-mobile spokesperson," "t-mobile commercial woman, "t-mobile girl," and "t-mobile girl name" all posted gains. Those who already knew the pitchwoman's name had sent lookups on "Carly Foulkes" up 34%.

Watch Foulkes' T-Mobile spot:

Foulkes, 23, is no doubt best known for her cell phone commercials. But from the looks of her résumé, she's branching out into movies and TV. She has a role in "Powers," a TV pilot based on the acclaimed comic book series. The project co-stars Lucy Punch, Vinnie Jones, and Jason Patric. Foulkes will play a superhero known as Retro Girl. Comic creator Brian Michael Bendis describes the character as "the Princess Di of the 'Powers' world."

Foulkes isn't the only commercial star to draw interest in the search box. Also perennially popular: Flo from the Progressive Insurance ads. The excitable insurance saleswoman played by Stephanie Courtney inspires plenty of searches week after week. Web lookups for "flo progressive" and "who is progressive flo actress" are popular time and again, a sign that Progressive has itself a successful ad campaign.

But Courtney isn't just about insurance. She's had appearances in acclaimed shows "House" and "The Comeback," and a five-episode stint in "Mad Men." See if you can spot her in this clip from the first season.

Foulkes and Courtney are the most popular commercial stars, but a third actress is coming on strong in the search box. Karme Boixadera appears in the commercials for Amazon's Kindle Fire. She's starred in a "True Blood" spoof commercial for Axe deodorant.

Of course not every star of commercials goes on to a Hollywood career. But it has happened. Rebecca Gayheart was, for years, best known as the "Noxzema girl." And Ali Larter of "Heroes" used to pitch perfume for (don't laugh) Designer Imposters.