Verizon takes another swing at AT&T, puts iPhone on the Island of Misfit Toys
By Nilay Patel 
posted November 8th 2009 1:57PM
posted November 8th 2009 1:57PM
Update: Two more ads after the break -- "Blue Christmas" and "Elves." In case you were wondering, it's a sunny 70 degrees in early November in New York and Chicago, which is just about perfect for Christmas ads.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Oh, that's great! ...
AT&T coverage is great "down here" in the Southeast. I hear that it sucks in other places though.
Now if only AT&T would have some OTHER cool phones instead of relying on its one flagship handset.
that deserved a reply... and an email to my friends
After a second watching, I see that the map is of 3G coverage, not just coverage in general, so okay, I can see that. Not much 3G where I live. However, I went to Sprint's website (God, please bring the Pre to AT&T soon) and put in my area code, and it basically told me not to buy a Sprint phone because they have no towers AT ALL where I live. So . . . it could be worse. Edge coverage is better than nothing.
Who still thinks an iPhone is going to Verizon now?
Besides, they are missing 3G coverage on their map in a number of new areas in the southeast. Typical VZW style.
When I was in LA and Vegas last year I got 3G everywhere on AT&T apart from in Vegas when I got HSDPA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw9oNBrmv0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRIqIWxhTIQ
Two more Verizon Christmas ads!
crud, I forgot the link :P
@Frankenstein Black:
I see someone who doesn't know what he's talking about...
I see someone who's taking it seriously...
I see that these ads are working pretty well so far =).
I noticed the naughty kid got an iPhone. Excuse me while I go steal something, I'll be hanging out later at a wireless hotspot.
AT&T shouldn't even be allowed to sue Verizon on the legal grounds that this commercial totally kicked some serious A.
@Frankenstein Black
Verizon chose LTE because it allows seamless passing to all three generations of its CDMA cell towers, thus allowing interoperability with it's own network. Using LTE also means better support for worldwide travel. Combine that with the fact it was getting more support then UMB was, and UMB lagged behind LTE spec wise, there was no reason for them to support the technology they were previously on just to spite their competition.
The fact of the matter is, if they stuck with UMB (assuming Qualcomm didn't cut support for it), you'd be sitting here trashing them for it anyway. Universality is always better then multiple technologies. Though right now, Verizon has a much more widespread, much more reliable, much faster 3G network then AT&T does, regardless of how they skew it in these commercials.
Side note, I'm pretty psyched about LTE because it at least presents the possibility of using unlocked phones on Verizon. Not hack jobs, just unlocked phones. At the moment there's no plans for that, but we'll see if that changes...
@Drgnt
Uh, why rule it out from this commercial? Any Apple/iPhone reference is only because that is THE phone that people associate with AT&T. The ads themselves are squarely fixed on AT&T's spotty at best coverage.
I just moved from AT&T to Verizon thanks to the Droid and I am not looking back. My school just had a little listserv conversation yesterday with a few people who were experiencing connection problems with their iPhones and AT&T. Funny little coincidence if you ask me. Was tempted to put a picture of the Droid and a youtube link to VZW's "there's a map for that" ad but I chickened out.
The third commercial makes no sense. It say's a blue Christmas, which would imply AT&T (and that there's 3G coverage since that's in blue), but he gets a Verizon phone (red). The other 2 are awesome though.
@Dragngt
Verizon isn't bad mouthing the iPhone. They're bad mouthing the coverage. Heck, if anything in the first commercial they made a point to say what a good phone it was. But the coverage sucks. I bet by the time Verizon does get the iPhone it will also run 3rd party apps in the background so the "iDon't" commercial will be a mute point.
I salute the guy responsible for these ads. These anti-bs measures were long required.
Blue also represents sadness, and is a cold colour.
The ad shows this throughout, until he gets the Verizon phone, then his christmas is better (Well, the expression on his face is.)
I know that's what blue means. I'm saying it gave me a subliminal message that made it seem like blue should be referring to AT&T.
Oh yeah, I thought the same.
"why not just sack up use a real iPhone, instead of this KIRF piece?"
Easy, because that KIRF looks better than the real deal. It's like an iPhone with the sexy aluminium front of the Zune HD
@ captcaveman and flowah I'm saying that because it indirectly effects iPhone sales by attacking AT&T and using the iPhone as the phone in the ads. Add to it the "iDoesn't" commercial and it looks a lot like iPhone attacks. Whether it is or is not the intent.
That doesn't mean that I don't really think that the iPhone won't end up on other networks. I think it's time Apple doubled their sales and let it be sold on VZW, Sprint (cringe) and T-Mobile. BUT they should all have to agree to the same terms that Apple currently has in place. I'm more for Apple continuing to gain market share in every aspect than I am to say something like "VZW said no first so then they should never get!" blah blah blah.
LMMFAO!!! All the ad's are great, and I love this taking shots at the iPhone and AT&T, and that VZW's marketing department is finally doing something right. I like the 1st one, where they welcome in the iPhone, and "check out the new guy, what are you doing here? You can download apps and browse the web. Yea, people will love you! (Ploop, map pops out and shows AT&T's 3G coverage) OOOOOHHH!!"
ROTFL Priceless, keep em coming!!!
Hmmm.
AT&T have really dropped the ball and now had a few years to prove their worth. FAIL
From following the story over the years it would be fair to say that the USA is the WORST place in the world to use an iPhone.
It's as likely as not that Apple has given approval for Verizon to bag the iPhone impending it's release on their network.
It's really great, especially when you know that these 2 companies won't have a peaceful holidays this yuletide season...
http://bit.ly/verizon-vs-att-no-peace-even-on-christmas
The plot thickens with the two. May Engadget give us an update when AT&T made a proper-bash against Verizon - with Chipmunks as their chosen characters.
Now that should be interesting..
This is pretty funny! I love that they're still using the map graphic they're getting sued for. These ads are basically as harsh as what Apple has been trying to do to PC's/Microsoft for the past however many years, slamming the other guy hard but dressing it up with cutesy humor. Brilliant!
According to J.D Power's survey, iPhone tops the customer satisfaction by a big margin.
That speaks loud and clear as to who is winning. VZ is very desperate now!
@ Spring Board
According to J.D Power's study, Verizon tops the call quality and performance by a big margin (AT&T is at the bottom).
That speaks loud and clear as to who is winning. VZ has nothing to fear!
This isn't about phones, it's about network quality!
Hey Meg and Ken. Why don't you 2 SUCKLE ME!!
http://appadvice.com/appnn/2009/11/the-truth-about-verizons-3g-coverage/
One word. DROID!!! It rocks, it's Fast and it's Open.
LOL
Poor little AT&T..
at&t is a saaaaaaaad little panda.... :*-(
AT&T isn't a panda.. It's NOTHING AT ALL.
Haha, I think this is more funny as a slam against Apple than it is AT&T
I don't see how it's a slam against Apple at all. It's saying the only reason it's on the island is because of AT&T.
Now those "iDon't" ads on the other hand . . .
Yeah, this is really not anti-Apple at all. They basically point out all the stuff the iPhone is awesome for, and then point out that it's too bad it runs on AT&T. Covering their asses in case they get a little fruity goodness at Verizon? We'll see.
If you have ever seen the original Rakin Bass Rudolph you know that the Island of misfit toys are there because of their ironic shortcomings (like a toy train with square wheels, a Jim in a box, etc). The reason the Iphone is there is because it is this great phone hampered by terrible coverage, and what good is a phone that can't be used? It's not knocking apple because the toys themselves are surprised that the iphone is in the land of the misfit toys until they realize that the iphone is paired with terrible coverage.
Well yes it is a slam against Apple as the iPhone is AT&T exclusive, consumers won't draw a line. And nobody saw the white iPhone in the adds? Verizon and Droid are out for the kill!
Yeah, best of luck with that.
It's not a slam at the product, rather, at Apple for tying it to AT&Ts network. I'll say it again, I still think this is funnier as a slam against Apple than AT&T.
@ohfor... There is no iPhone in any of the ads. It's *close* to the white iPhone, but there's no Apple logo on the back.
This is actually more of a compliment to Apple, Lol. It's basically saying "The iPhone is a bad ass phone on a shitty network" which makes it a misfit. Its like a really hot girl on a beach with a spectacular body wearing a one piece, she has the goods, but you can't use them. Lol
@Squid7085
In that case, I hope that Verizon buys the iPhone new clothes XP
It's like that part in all the Teen-flicks.
You know, near the end, but not THE end, when all the Nerds band together and finally bring down the Jocks that've been making fun of them for years.
@Smart People Play Tuba
Somehow though, I doubt they'd be aiming the iDon't ads if AT&T was not relying on the iPhone as a flagship phone.
That's a cute piece. Very creative and well put together. I like it.
1st ad is the best! I like how it's Christmasy yet subtle :D
I don't know why I think it's so funny when the little airplane doll falls in the snow
Timing maybe?
I wish my iPhone had dual ear speaker things.
I too am puzzled by the use of a "stand-in". Perhaps they don't even want to show folks the real device to tempt them?
YEAH!
And why didn't they show a REAL jack-in-the-box instead of a puppet of one? Maybe they're afraid that people will get jack-in-the-boxes instead of Verizon contracts too!
Or maybe its because a real retail phone wouldn't fit in very well with puppets of toys.