Key Points
- T-Mobile accused AT&T of pressuring the BBB’s National Advertising Division to withdraw a cease-and-desist over an ad campaign.
- The NAD had faulted AT&T for allegedly using prior advertising decisions in marketing but later retracted the complaint.
- T-Mobile said the reversal undermines industry self-regulation and accused AT&T of leveraging legal and financial power.
T-Mobile has accused AT&T of using considerable legal and financial might to effectively bully an advertising regulator into withdrawing its complaint about a campaign that appeared to use some of its prior decisions for promotional and competitive purposes.
In a statement on Monday, a spokesperson for T-Mobile said the company was disappointed that the BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division (NAD) decided to withdraw a cease-and-desist letter against AT&T that accused the wireless network of breaking the organization’s policies by challenging the integrity of T-Mobile’s marketing and promotions.
The spot, which features actor Luke Wilson and began airing on television in October, accuses T-Mobile of being the “most-challenged” for its “deceptive” advertising.
The ad, and an associated press release promoting it, didn’t specifically reference the NAD by name. The organization helps member companies like AT&T and T-Mobile self-regulate their ads and marketing through specific policies, and allows participants to file complaints against each other if they feel a competitor violates those rules or otherwise crosses the line.
For years, all three major wireless companies — Verizon included — have filed complaints against each other, some of which are upheld by the NAD. When complaints are sustained, the NAD issues recommendations on how to correct the issues in question.
After the AT&T spot was announced, the NAD accused AT&T of violating its policy that prohibits companies from using prior decisions in marketing campaigns. AT&T later filed a request in court for declaratory relief, arguing that it didn’t specifically use the NAD’s decision in its campaign, calling NAD’s cease-and-desist letter “absurd” and saying the organization’s recommendations had not stopped T-Mobile from continuing to engage in deceptive ad practices.
Last week, The Desk first reported the NAD retracted its earlier cease-and-desist letter, a move that also ended the legal challenge. The decision was mutual, officials from AT&T and the NAD said.
On Monday, a spokesperson for T-Mobile accused AT&T of putting the NAD in a legal and financial chokehold, one that ultimately led to a submission.
“It seems obvious that AT&T made it clear to the NAD that they would bring their considerable legal and financial resources to bear against a small, non-profit industry organization and bury them in endless, expensive litigation,” the spokesperson said in a statement emailed to The Desk. “It’s bad news for industry self-regulation and the integrity of the entire process. AT&T’s claim that T-Mobile is ‘the most challenged’ advertiser when they themselves are the filer of most of the complaints is the height of hypocrisy, and the reason that the NADs reversal is so sad for our industry.”
T-Mobile has another reason to be aggrieved with the NAD: Earlier this month, the organization’s appeal board said it would send a case involving a claim about the wireless company’s marketing to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general after it failed to cooperate with its investigation.
T-Mobile said its decision was out of concern that any proprietary information shared with the NAD and its National Advertising Review Board (NARB) because it did not want those records to be used by AT&T in its then-ongoing lawsuit against the NAD.
