Verizon Wireless: The iPhone is a Misfit Toy

By  |  Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 3:39 pm

Once again, Verizon is bashing away at the iPhone in a commercial–one that places an animated iPhone lookalike on the Island of Misfit Toys from the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special:

For entertainment value and diligent recreation of the Rankin-Bass studio’s stop-motion puppetry style, this ad gets an A. I do wonder, however, just how effective a marketing strategy it is to paint the iPhone as an unloved loser–we’re talking about a gizmo with astounding levels of consumer satisfaction. The Droid is a nifty phone overall, but it has a long way to go before it matches the iPhone’s sales stats and consumer approval.

Of course, the real message of this ad is pertinent and straightforward: Verizon has far more 3G coverage than AT&T. Wonder whether AT&T will feel like suing over this spot, too?

Verizon also has a couple of other Christmas-themed AT&T-attacking commercials, which you can see over at Engadget. The gist is similar, but they’re nowhere near as amusing as this one…

 
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7 Comments For This Post

  1. Jason Says:
    November 8th, 2009 at 6:07 pm

    I wish i could figure out why AT&T is suing; i mean, their 3G coverage does suck. And I think that Verizon makes it clear when they label the maps “3G coverage” and not “Overall coverage”. AT&T is sucky. (Like all cell phone companies, quite honestly)

  2. Paul Says:
    November 8th, 2009 at 7:54 pm

    AT&t is arguing that Verizon is implying that 3G coverage is the same as overall coverage. While it may be technically a true statement regarding AT&T’s coverage, its deceptive on a couple of parts due to AT&T’s superior speed and their EDGE network.

    Verizon s trying to say that 3G is everything by showing a massive empty map for their competitor by making statements that they say are dependent on 3G when that is not the case.

  3. tom b Says:
    November 8th, 2009 at 9:46 pm

    Reviews of Verizon’s Droid show it’s no “iPhone killer”, so they feel they have to run these stupid attack ads.

    I’ve got Verizon. Their coverage in my town is quite unimpressive, and they aren’t even GSM. They haven’t earned the right to “throw stones” at ATT.

  4. will Says:
    November 8th, 2009 at 10:14 pm

    AT&T is terrified of these ads. The lawsuit makes mention that they believe these ads are VERY effective (they also believe they meet the legal precedent of “deceptive” because the layperson doesn’t know the difference between 3G data coverage and GSM wireless coverage)…

    Whatever your opinion is of AT&T, Verizon or the iPhone, the simple fact is: AT&T believes they are going to lose a lot of marketshare due to these commercials.

    Because the wireless market is already saturated, i.e., everyone who wants a wireless handset already has one and because AT&T has a high chrun rate already, they believe they may never regain this marketshare.

    I agree with AT&T that the ads are hilarious and effective. I agree that AT&T will likely lose marketshare during the 4th quarter, albeit, which is the major quarter for wireless sales.

    However, I agree with Verizon that the ads only point out the truth. AT&T’s claims are baseless. Any damage AT&T suffers is because of its inferior data network and not due to deceptive advertising.

  5. Simon Says:
    November 9th, 2009 at 6:01 am

    Wow. There was a time I couldn’t have imagined saying this (for tech-related reasons at least) but I’m glad I live in Italy. Reading all the coverage of poor cell networks makes me realise how lucky I am with an official unlocked iPhone on a network that pretty much works well all the time.

    Did I just write a disgustingly smug comment?

  6. ecco6t9 Says:
    November 9th, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    All I know is here AT&T and my iPhone work faster than any Verizon phone around.

  7. Vincent Says:
    November 27th, 2009 at 12:08 pm

    It is a sad thing when businesses such as Verizon and others
    think they must resort to the degrading tactact to try and make
    sales, as if they don’t have a quality product of their own.

2 Trackbacks For This Post

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    November 12th, 2009 at 6:16 pm

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  2. Apple Fights Back Against Verizon Ads | Technologizer Says:
    November 23rd, 2009 at 11:35 am

    […] all: News Nobody likes being compared to a misfit toy. So it’s not surprising that a couple of new iPhone ads feel like indirect responses to […]