AT&T calls on Luke Wilson to ’set the record straight’

Whoever said, “there’s no such thing as bad press,” obviously never worked for a wireless carrier. For the likes of AT&T (NYSE: T), the kind of bad press that Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless has been sending them could end up hurting their bottom line by way of lost customers. That’s hitting where it hurts. In it’s defense, though, AT&T has filed a lawsuit and is starting to hit back with their own Luke Wilson-ified TV commercials. It seems that lawsuit just wasn’t enough to disuade Verizon from running their ad campaign.

The latest of AT&T’s ads shows the usually funny actor taking a more serious tone to “set the record straight.” Verizon has been on a tear about how their rival’s 3G network pales in comparison to its own. AT&T is worried that some Americans might take Verizon’s claims and depictions of AT&T’s 3G coverage maps to mean that their network just doesn’t have widespread coverage. Their answer, apparently, is to show everyone out in TV-land just how extensive AT&T’s wireless network really is.

Take a look for yourself. There’s significantly more coverage area in AT&T’s map than Verizon’s version. By the looks of it, AT&T has some impressive coverage. So, what gives? Turns out, AT&T is showing off their entire 2G/3G network, while Verizon is focusing on the 3G network. That’s not exactly apples-to-oranges. This is getting interesting…

[Via: Mashable]