Negative advertising hits cell phone industry

No more Mr. Nice Guy. That’s the message cellphone companies seem to be sending in their recent ads, reports The New York Times.

"Instead of trumpeting low prices and new phones in advertisements bathed in orange, red, yellow or hot pink, they are pointing out more and more their rivals’ shortcomings.

In one recent ad, Sprint Nextel calls a competitor to task by name, saying that its own mobile broadband service is five times as fast as Cingular’s. Alltel is running a series of ads that spoof its four larger rivals as curmudgeons who object to its new calling plan. T-Mobile plans to phase out its elegant spokeswoman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and to replace her with ordinary people, like those used by other carriers."

emily | 8:07 AM | SMS Marketing & Advertising |
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