Remember the 'There's a map for that' ad from Verizon where the carrier claims that they have five times more 3G coverage than AT&T?
AT&T is not happy with the way their network coverage has been portrayed in the ad and has now filed a lawsuit against Verizon for what the company says are claims that confuse the consumers.
In the lawsuit filed, AT&T says that the company seeks "only an order prohibiting Verizon from displaying, in the "Bench" advertisement, or in any other advertisement, a map of AT&T's "3G" coverage in which AT&T's non-"3G" coverage areas are depicted by white or blank space, to prevent consumers from being misled by the maps into believing that AT&T offers no wireless service in large parts of the United States".
We feel that AT&T's position is understandable. By depicting only the 3G network on the maps, a lot many of the consumers might be led to believe that AT&T does not work outside the marked areas.
Apparently, Verizon had already been approached by AT&T over this issue at which point, the ad was edited to replace the "out of touch" phrase with "Voice and data services available outside of 3G areas". However, AT&T saw this as doing precious little to allay doubts among consumers regarding AT&T's connectivity and chose to take the legal route.
The past few weeks have seen Verizon take an aggressive approach in promoting their affiliated products and services. The company had recently also targeted the iPhone in its promotional campaign for Motorola Droid. While the mileage gained out of this strategy is yet to be measured (Droid incidentally launches tomorrow), it sure has created a lot of buzz and hype.
The Verizon commercials have been on air for quite some time now and we wonder if AT&T has been a little late in its reaction. Has the damage already been done? What do you think? Please tell us in the comments.
[via Engadget Mobile]
AT&T is just going for low blows now. Their claim doesn't follow thru because Verizon doesn't show their 2G coverage either.
thats what they are complaining about….that since it is only showing 3g sevice people will think they wont get ANY service in those areas. they want to to show a full map with color coding they like they display in any wireless store. i dont consider it a low blow when they asked them to change it and they didnt…
Look, the point of the ad is not about general coverage. It's about 3G coverage. Verizon has a right to show only 3G coverage maps, that is the point of the ad, who has more 3G coverage. If the color it in, then they will subdue the whole point of the commercial and the 3G areas won't stand out. Pick any color you want, say yellow, if they made the non 3G area's yellow instead of white on both maps, the effect would still be the same! It's not illegal or slanderous or anything if they state the truth. ATT doesn't have a bar to stand on in this one.
I'm guessing people are getting tired of hearing "theres a map for that" 50 times in one commercial…as if all they have are a bunch of maps!? WTF needs more maps?
Verizon is and will always be the big bully I live in the puget sound and there coverage and 3g coverage is the same as AT&T
As a corporate lawyer, I think this lawsuit is hysterical. AT&T's legal department must be smoking something funny… This is akin to the car commercials in which car A compares itself to car B and demonstrates how car A is better – but you don't see car B suing and saying "Well, yeah it's true, but car A didn't inform everybody that our car B has really nice head rests!" Get real – AT&T has a massive ad budget, if they want to respond or inform people of their great "coverage," they are certainly entitled to advertise it. Silly lawsuits like this only benefit lawyers – oh wait, nevermind, in that light, the lawsuit is a good idea
hahaha AT&T had to give their lawyers SOMETHING to do…
nice one john
too bad i can't 'like' your response, like a status message on facebook. good one, John
Again, I have to say what others have, the whole point of this AD is to show 3G coverage for both companies, why would they show anything else on either map? It wouldn't make sense.
The original ad implied that ATT had no coverage outside of the colored areas on the map. Like the lady unable to receive messages on the bench. Which is why they edited the ad to say that data and voice services are available outside of 3g coverage.
Honestly if you are that worried about faster internet then hook up to wifi somewhere, its on every corner now. Why change services for a little faster download. Besides CDMA sucks. Sim cards are so much easier to use and activate.