T-Mobile protest leads to alteration of misleading AT&T satellite calling commercial

T-Mobile 2 – AT&T 0

Misleading, confusing, and generally uninspired ads are, let’s be honest, as old as time, and while most such faults typically go unchallenged, US companies can complain to the National Advertising Division (NAD) when they feel their competitors may have stepped over an imaginary line.

Instead of heeding that recommendation, AT&T appealed the decision, which brought the case to the NARB. The appellate advertising body of BBB National Programs essentially echoed the NAD’s judgment earlier this week, once again advising AT&T to “clearly and conspicuously communicate that SCS is not available at this time.”

So what is and what’s not true here?

Initially labeled a “demonstration of evolving technology”, AT&T’s “Epic Bad Golf Day” ad has been revised to clarify that “satellite calling is not currently available.” 

The carrier has also (reluctantly) accepted to modify a phrase about “the future of help”, which is not an “AT&T satellite call away”, but rather “will be an AT&T satellite call away.” Although we’re not entirely sure if this revised claim makes a lot of sense from a grammatical standpoint, the most important thing you need to understand here is that AT&T is hard at work on deploying satellite calling (or SCS) functionality.

Satellite calling will come to AT&T… one day. | Image Credit — AT&T

That means you (as well as Ben Stiller) will eventually be able to ask for help with your golfing game even from the most remote places on the planet, where your good old fashioned cellular signal might not be enough to get you through a phone call.