The New AT&T Commercials Get Careless Online

It's a treat that with today's busy schedules, we can watch most network TV programming whenever we choose by just tuning into that handy Internet. I like TV, but find the plethora of channels and shows too laden a cornucopia from which to choose. Instead of dropping my TV off my terrace as I probably should (when no one's about, of course!), I watch a bunch of crap like Dallas and 90210 reruns, and end up catching the fancy new stuff online.

But the networks are hip to this trend, since they're pretty much arranging for it. So they have some advertising that's absolutely mandatory. I don't mind it so much, except for one damned car commercial I ran into at CBS (which has a crappy online episode service anyway) that repeated the same exact commercial for every segment break. Way to make your product the enemy, Buick or Cadillac or whatever car you were---whose name I'd have noted if you were ever a car I'd buy in the first place.

ABC has a nice setup for their full episodes. Shows are easy-loading, they appear promptly in the post-midnight hours of the night following airing, and they're of good quality. Also, the commercials work nicely. (NBC gets a close second place, btw. The chapter selection has its merits.) So I was watching my Desperate Housewives, and enjoying the run of commercials from AT&T. Ah, that's another plus---at ABC (and NBC), the episodes are all brought to you by one sponsor. If you don't like that sponsor or its commercials, close the viewer and pop it up again! Go for Dove if you like silent commercials. Juicy Juice Harvest Surprise (the one that hides carrot juice in your kids' drinks---surprise!) if you want them to just fly by. AT&T if you want to pick apart the ad work.

I appreciate the new ad campaign AT&T has with the mélange of places created from all the necessary locales its phone user must make or receive calls. It's okay. Not brilliant, but serves its purpose; illustrates it decently. The online versions also add printed labels to these newly invented places where AT&T phones promise to work. The problem is, whoever wrote the place names wasn't paying attention, and/or doesn't actually know place names.

I illustrate:

One commercial shows a customer who needs his phone to work in Hollywood, New York, Arizona, South America, and England. The place name? Have a look.


Now, unless South America is actually spelled "South Amaryca" (which may be cool, hey), this ad maker has been thrown for a loop by the idea of combining "meri" and "land" without making it "Maryland." But okay, maybe a secret nod to the home state or something---just a one-off error, I thought.

Until the next commercial came along! Here, the customer needs a phone that works in Virginia, California, Sacramento (? yeah, I don't know why those two are set off separately), Flagstaff, and San Antonio. The combined place name?


I guess the person who added the text to the ad thinks the Alamo is in San Atonio. Also, I could have sworn that the place name was pronounced "Virgi" calimento, not "Virgin." But you can't rewind the commercials. That should be remedied pronto! Come on, advertisers! Don't you want people to see your ads?

Sloppy work, AT&T! If you weren't already my wireless provider, I'd think you couldn't be trusted with all the little details that make or break customer service in a business where it matters so much. Since I'm already a customer, though, I already knew that. But I doubt any of the other companies are much better, and my phone service works well.
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