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  • Apple Sucked Into AT&T vs. Verizon War
    by
    Michael Essany
    Published on 11-24-2009 05:35 AM
    47 Comments Comments



    Until now, Apple has largely stayed out of the incessant ad wars between AT&T and Verizon. Although a casual observer may have mistakenly believed that Apple was already involved in the ongoing battle, Apple has stayed above the fray despite the fact that its name along with the iPhone are constantly alluded to by the warring factions.

    But Apple's ad war neutrality has now officially ended. And last night, two retaliatory iPhone TV ads began hitting the airwaves. The Apple ads effectively serve as back up to AT&T's TV ad campaign that, as PC World puts it, aims to "set the record straight around Verizon's 'there's a map for that' campaign."






    The two Apple ads show the iPhone's ability to browse the Web and manage phone calls simultaneously, a feat that's possible over AT&T's UMTS/GSM wireless network but not over Verizon's CDMA network, according to an account in Apple Insider. With its two ad spots, Apple is clearly taking aim at a Verizon ad message which mocks the iPhone for lacking a "real keyboard" and the capability to run "simultaneous apps," for example.
    As you might expect, Apple is similarly standing by AT&T in their new round of ads seeking to undo some of the damage done by Verizon, which claims that AT&T's 3G coverage is shoddy at best in comparison to Verizon's. The now infamous "map attack ads" are being invoked again as AT&T taps actor Luke Walker to argue that AT&T's mobile coverage extends to 97% Americans. However, that high number alludes to both 2.5G and 3G coverage.






    The new series of ads from both Apple and AT&T comes only days after a federal court failed to grant AT&T a "restraining order" against Verizon and effectively curtail the company's aggressive attack ads. Far from over, the war will continue in court with no action being taken to pull any ad from either warring party.

    Watching the two wireless giants try to clobber each other over the TV airwaves should make for entertaining TV viewing straight through the holiday season, and maybe beyond that. well into 2010. Eventually, the public will probably lose interest in this breed of TV drama, just as people ultimately get tired of many types of television fare.
    Ultimately, however, both AT&T and Verizon may be fighting a pointless battle. While each presents a cogent argument of superiority, the masses remain emotionally uninvolved for the most part. And for as long as Apple sticks with the mobile partner it brought to the dance - AT&T- it's unlikely that Verizon will do too much damage to their competitor through their negative ads. After all, how many people do you know who actually switched their mobile carrier as a lone result of a television ad rather than a personal experience with a mobile operator's service?

    Image via Mobile Technology Guide
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Apple Sucked Into AT&T vs. Verizon War started by Michael Essany View original post
    Comments 47 Comments
    1. Ximpostrxx's Avatar
      Ximpostrxx - 11-24-2009, 05:45 AM
      Wow its really getting fun now!

      P.S. yay im #1
    1. ripped53's Avatar
      ripped53 - 11-24-2009, 05:58 AM
      LOL...go get em AT&T.
    1. GixxerJJ's Avatar
      GixxerJJ - 11-24-2009, 06:06 AM
      lol gg
    1. 1shuttle1's Avatar
      1shuttle1 - 11-24-2009, 06:16 AM
      still no mention of 3G in the At&t adds. I keep waiting for them to bust out some new ad that talks about their secret 4g network they have been working on.
    1. bigorangekitty's Avatar
      bigorangekitty - 11-24-2009, 06:18 AM
      Luke Wilson :-) ..he was in "Old School" (he's Owen Wilson's brother). not Luke Walker ...good commercial, saw it during MNF.
    1. sipher's Avatar
      sipher - 11-24-2009, 07:14 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by bigorangekitty View Post
      Luke Wilson :-) ..he was in "Old School" (he's Owen Wilson's brother). not Luke Walker ...good commercial, saw it during MNF.
      WTF luke wilson lol who doing the research for this guy??? grandpa
    1. CaptainChaos's Avatar
      CaptainChaos - 11-24-2009, 07:15 AM
      Verizon can brag about their sub-par 3G network all they want. Crappy coverage everywhere is still crappy coverage.

      And...they have the Droid. Big Deal.Nuff said.
    1. exNavy's Avatar
      exNavy - 11-24-2009, 07:26 AM
      At least as far as these commercials are concerned, it's nice to see AT&T take the higher ground.

      The first rule of commercials is not to name your competitors, and certainly not to denigrate them either. Your mission in a commercial is to tell me what your product brings to the table. Not provide free advertising to your competitors.

      Kudos.

      The Verizon commercials just demonstrate to me how scared they are of AT&T and specifically the iPhone.
    1. lmatute's Avatar
      lmatute - 11-24-2009, 07:41 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by 1shuttle1 View Post
      still no mention of 3G in the At&t adds. I keep waiting for them to bust out some new ad that talks about their secret 4g network they have been working on.
      Not really a secret AT&T is working on it, they will have some Trial and pilot deployments on 2011 and mayor arena in 2012 (now we all know how well they stick to schedules right?)

      for what it worth the changes and investments the At&t need to roll LTE is considerable smaller compare to rolling mobile wimax(Spring/nextel) or Verizon LTE. so maybe just maybe they try to get it right.
    1. Melech518's Avatar
      Melech518 - 11-24-2009, 07:41 AM
      I would not consider this "Firing Back" in any way. Apple makes no mention of Verizon in their ads. Simply just a good commercial to try to boost sales for the holidays IMHO
    1. s4mb4's Avatar
      s4mb4 - 11-24-2009, 07:49 AM
      i live in one of those little blue areas on the AT&T map that verizon shows on its ads, so i could care less about any of this ;-)
    1. juggz143's Avatar
      juggz143 - 11-24-2009, 08:26 AM
      The funny thing is iphone and at&t can't do THIS. I'm reminded atleast once a week I can't use data while on call.

      lol at the guy above me
    1. eg6motion's Avatar
      eg6motion - 11-24-2009, 08:39 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by juggz143 View Post
      The funny thing is iphone and at&t can't do THIS. I'm reminded atleast once a week I can't use data while on call.

      lol at the guy above me
      no 3G eh? so YOUR iphone can't do it, pretty sure mine does...and every other phone that's on 3G.
    1. southfrisco's Avatar
      southfrisco - 11-24-2009, 08:51 AM
      Instead of attacking each other over which network can do what, why not lower your damn rates a little? AT&T...Verizon...?

      "There are MORE customers for that.."

      With their cell coverage being far beyond what T-Mobile and Sprint offer, a little price drop would gain you customers. That is the main goal here.
    1. thetoothfairy's Avatar
      thetoothfairy - 11-24-2009, 09:03 AM
      I find this all quite entertaining!
    1. ty22's Avatar
      ty22 - 11-24-2009, 09:49 AM
      Everyone thought Verizon was great. Until the day they walk into the apple store and find that both AT&T and Verizon are service options. They say to the apple rep. which network do I choose? Oh, well let me show you what AT&T can do (Sim card, data and talk, faster, going to other countries and it working etc...). And Verizon has a tiny bit more coverage just in the U.S. Then it will be a better competition.
    1. Luppin's Avatar
      Luppin - 11-24-2009, 10:11 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by juggz143 View Post
      The funny thing is iphone and at&t can't do THIS. I'm reminded atleast once a week I can't use data while on call.

      lol at the guy above me
      ? What? Two to three times a day I'm thankful for this feature, giving out contact information to someone who needs it without having to call them back, finding directions for my parents and walking them through them while not hanging up, and checking someone on myspace/facebook that my girfriend might bring up without having to end the call, it's an invaluable feature and it's stupid that verizon doesn't change/upgrade their technology to support this
    1. wiltok's Avatar
      wiltok - 11-24-2009, 10:25 AM
      I also live in a non-3G area. In fact the closest 3G area is about 30 mins away and that is spotty / sporadic anyway. There are a lot of people who live in the non-blue areas. For us, that AT&T ad means nothing.
    1. snap1500's Avatar
      snap1500 - 11-24-2009, 11:22 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by lmatute View Post
      Not really a secret AT&T is working on it, they will have some Trial and pilot deployments on 2011 and mayor arena in 2012 (now we all know how well they stick to schedules right?)

      for what it worth the changes and investments the At&t need to roll LTE is considerable smaller compare to rolling mobile wimax(Spring/nextel) or Verizon LTE. so maybe just maybe they try to get it right.
      4G on ATT? Took long enough
    1. rhekt's Avatar
      rhekt - 11-24-2009, 11:28 AM
      LOL! saw these ads last night. luke wilsons was kind of weak...but whatever.

      too bad his name wasnt Luke Walker......his middle name could be "Sky"
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