Verizon Targets AT&T, Labels iPhone a ‘Misfit Toy’

Ed Sutherland ()

Verizon has released three new ads attacking AT&T, the latest labeling the iPhone as a “Misfit toy.” The ad charges the handset belongs on the “Island for Misfit Toys” because of AT&T’s lack of widespread 3G coverage. Two other Christmas-themed ads take aim at the rival carrier’s coverage.

This latest round of ads differ from Verizon’s iDon’t Droid spots which highlighted the handsets limitations. Instead, the newest ads make a point of praising the iPhone while  taking to task AT&T’s coverage.

Verizon’s two other ads: “Blue Christmas” and “Elves“:

Earlier this month, AT&T sued Verizon over their ‘Map’ ads, claiming “consumers are being misled into believing that AT&T’s customers have no coverage whatsoever and thus cannot use their wireless devices when they are outside of AT&T’s depicted coverage area.” The lawsuit asked for a temporary restraining order and an injunction blocking the ads.

The new ads also come amid speculation Apple may produce an iPhone capable of working with both CDMA and GSM wireless networks, opening the way possibly for Verizon to offer the iPhone.

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[Via AppleInsider and Electronista]

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About the author

Ed Sutherland

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

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  • imajoebob

    These coverage ads are great. As a regular reader of CoM, I like to think I’m more technically savvy and better performed than the average guy. But I didn’t know AT&T’s 3G coverage was as poor as Verizon shows. Even if it’s not, I’m going to compare them before signing up with AT&T. AT&T’s coverage probably fits my profile 99.9% of the time; I don’t spend a great deal of time in the Dakotas or the Painted Desert. But this makes me wonder if there are a lot of dead spots in AT&T’s coverage areas. Here in New England we have lots of hills and little valleys that are sparsely populated. Unlike the flat midwest and great Plains states, carriers need more towers to cover smaller areas, and there are more dead spots than you might believe. (They’re even running out of church steeples for their antennae). Why Verizon can cover so much more area than AT&T is a concern.

    While I believe an iPhone is generally superior to the other smart phones (ain’t never seen a droid), I still find it too expensive. But I expected to make the jump when the price made better sense. Now I have to amend that to the price/performance, and ask if AT&T is willing to do more than the minimum required.

  • http://ObamaPacman.com Obama Pacman

    Verizon obviously didn’t realize iPhone is rated the BEST consumer and business phone by J.D. Powers in both 2009 and 2008.

    Verizon is losing its top customers to the iPhone, so they are getting desperate.

    FYI, Verizon technology: no simultaneous data and voice. Verizon: Visual voice mail is an extra fee.

  • Cody

    In case everyone forgot….the misfit toys ended up to be the best toys at the end of that movie.

  • http://www.knoxware.org ghostshadow

    @cody, totally true!!!

  • TRRosen

    Here’s to the crazy ones. THE MISFITS. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
    The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
    About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.
    Maybe they have to be crazy.
    How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
    We make tools for these kinds of people.
    While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.