As business journalists, weve spent what feels like a lifetime listening to mind-numbingly boring executive speeches. And were reminded of those every time Dan Hesse appears on our television screen.

For those of you who havent turned on a television in recent months, Hesse is chief executive of wireless phone provider Sprint. Perhaps that job leaves him with a bit of spare time, or maybe as chief executive he wanted to save the company a few bucks, so hes also apparently decided to make himself the companys pitchman.

There are several Hesse commercials, but they all follow the same formula: energetic classical music, moody black-and-white background and then Hesse himself, "casually" walking through the streets or sitting at a diner.

Sprint

Usually, hes saying something that is either dull, obvious, or both, such as "Our network is engineered for today, and for tomorrow" or "This could be the only phone youll ever need."

Sometimes hell also delve into the scintillating details of the cell phone plan, as if assuming that were all sitting on our couches with calculators and pencils at the ready, taking notes and comparing prices.

We expect this kind of talk at analysts conferences and technology symposiums, when you have an audience of people who are actually looking forward to parsing earnings statements and examining software code. But its definitely not the type of stuff thats likely to keep our attention when were relaxing after a long day of work or taking care of kids.

The fact that Sprint would continue to blanket the airwaves with these annoyingly boring ads is especially surprising given the stark contrast with its competition, which has hit on the more entertaining formula of using humor to sell families on their services.

AT&T continues to amuse us with its witty rollover minute series, and we cant help but chuckle every time we see this commercial about a missed call that wreaks havoc with a childs birthday party. T-Mobile USA also deserves kudos for this parody of the lengths moms will go to get a good babysitter.