T-Mobile Air News Anti-iPhone Ad
February 13, 2011
T-Mobile has been taking some jabs at the iPhone for a couple of months now, with a series of ads somewhat inspired by Apple's now defunct "Get A Mac" campaign. It pits a young girl, against another young man who has to support a creepy old one, namely T-Mobile against the iPhone and its AT&T pal.
So far it has been fair play, and the previous ads may have even brought a smile to our faces. However, this last episode of the series comes as a bit of a shock, as they're stretching the truth.
T-Mobile, who couldn't afford to roll out full 4G in the US, has decided to rename its current 3G network "4G." More precisely, they decided to market their 3G HSPA+ network as 4G. The thing is, while 4G may be just a marketing term at this point, HSDPA+, which is pretty much the same thing has already been around for a couple of years, and AT&T provides it in over 80% of the US. Not to mention that the iPhone has fully supported it since the 3GS. It gets virtually the same speeds as T-Mobile once you put network congestion aside.
I'm no lawyer to say whether or not this is wrongful advertising, but without a doubt they're going down a risky path. At least next time you see it air, you'll be glad that you know better.
Here is the ad, see for yourself:
