0003493915@mcimail.com (Michael Dorrian) (01/08/91)
Paul Coen writes concerning yet another telecom advertisement targeted
at the insecurity of your average caller.
A recent {Los Angeles Times} tells of another radio spot...
It's a typical weekday morning and you're driving to work, distractedly
switching from one radio station to the next.
First stop: A commercial seems to be playing. You're about to turn
to another station but something sounds a bit strange...
A man with an ordinary voice is saying: "So,it's three in the morning,
the phone rings. It's some guy from MCI tellin' me how AT&T charges
too much for long-distance, and how he can save me all kinds of money.
So I tell him put it in writing. Silence. I go back to bed and then
the phone rings again! Hello. This time it's a guy from AT&T. He says
that when an MCI operator is talkin' to me real friendly and all,
she's flippin' me the bird at the same time! She is? So by now it's
3:30, and just as I'm dozing off, the phone rings. Now I'm getting
steamed. What! It's the guy from MCI again. He says, 'Sure AT&T gives
instant credit, but they're getting the money from widows and
orphans!" They are? So just as I'm about to slam the phone down on
him, somebody knocks on my door. It's a guy from Sprint! He says
AT&T is secretly shipping A-Bombs to Iraq, MCI is burning down rain
forests when they're not too busy killing dolphins ... and that all the
Sprint operators work in the nude. Why can't they leave me alone?"
The whole inanity associated with the Big 3's attempts to differienate
a commodity product caught the eye of some writers at DB
Communications, who produce parodies of commercials for radio jocks.
Faithful TELECOM Digest readers wouldn't have been fooled, since we
all know that Sprint operators dont't really work in the nude.
Unfortunately, it appears that we will continue to be subjected to
these ads as the LD marketing forces-that-be have decided that since
there is no advantage to continued price decreases (to build and
retain market share), funding will now be applied to marketing and
promotions.
So buckle yourself in for the next year or so. I just got a mailer
from Sprint offering me a "FREE SOLAR CALCULATOR" if I sign up for
their service. It's a duplicate of a promotion I received about a year
ago.
Two days ago I would have viewed these mailers as a subsidy for the
postal service. In light of the planned postal increase, maybe Sprint
is flogging the "FREE SOLAR CALCULATOR" as part of their recycling
campaign of tired old promotions.
Has any reader succumbed to this tempting offer?
Michael Dorrian
The RTP Group, Mid-Atlantic
703-243-6000 MCI Mail 349-3915roger@wrq.com (Roger Fulton) (01/09/91)
In article <15367@accuvax.nwu.edu> John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com> writes: <text deleted> >Someone please tell me that readers of the Digest base purchasing >decisions on price, service, quality, suitability for intended use, >and value and not on what some ad agency produces to brainwash the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >public. Someone please tell me that. Do you really mean to say that AT&T is not responsible for what "some ad agency" produces for them? Roger Fulton roger@wrq.com
linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu (Linc Madison) (01/17/91)
There has been some recent discussion about AT&T ads talking about how
other LD companies call you and try to get you to switch. Being a
Sprint customer, I get unsolicited calls from *AT&T* asking me to
switch back to them.
A couple of months ago, the AT&T droid called and raved about their
wonderful quality and how their rates are "comparable." I said,
"Fine. Put it in writing." Specifically, I asked for a rate sheet --
you know, the standard interstate rates, 0-11 miles day/eve/night,
etc. He told me that he couldn't send me one, because, well, it's
"AGAINST POLICY." I told him that I wasn't terribly impressed by his
refusal to "put it in writing," and placed the handset upon the
switchhook in response to his continued protestations.
The sequel: just over a month ago, another AT&T droid called me. I
just immediately started in by saying, "Well, your people called me a
few weeks ago and refused to 'put it in writing.' I need a rate sheet
as a reference before I'll consider switching." She promised that she
would send one right away.
Well, AT&T, I'm *still* waiting for you to "put it in writing"!
Linc Madison = linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu
[Moderator's Note: The winners of the {Ad Age} advertising contest
have been announced, and in the next issue of the Digest, I'll be
printing the winning submissions as submitted by a reader. You'll
love it, I'm sure! PAT]