Ithaca College

Claims made by Charter Communications, Inc. (“Charter”) for its Spectrum cable TV service were challenged by DIRECTV, LLC (“DIRECTV”), a competing provider of television service. 

The challenged video, titled “Evil Commute,” is part of Spectrum’s series of “monster” commercials that feature fictional monster-type characters (Grim Reaper, Mummy, Mad Scientist, Werewolf) engaged in normal human activities. The challenged video shows monster characters talking about the upcoming weekend while riding a commuter train home from work. The challenged claims made in the video commercial include the following:

• Satellite dish went out in the rain … again.”
• “How can they sell something that doesn’t always work in the rain?”
• “TV that cuts out in the rain is evil. Spectrum is reliable. Satellite TV Bad. Spectrum Good."

Panel #232 of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has recommended that Charter Communications discontinue use of the word “again” in this commercial. The panel also recommended that Charter discontinue claims that contrast satellite TV as unreliable and its Spectrum TV service as reliable. The panel determined that the challenged commercial conveyed the messages that satellite TV users will experience frequent and regular outages in the rain and that satellite TV is highly unreliable, messages that the panel found were not supported by the evidence in the record.

Satellite television provider DirecTV had earlier challenged Charter’s advertising before the National Advertising Division (NAD), an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. NAD found that the use of the word “again,” in the context of the challenged advertising, reasonably conveyed the unsupported message that outages are a frequent and regular occurrence and that satellite television is “highly unreliable.” Charter appealed that finding to the NARB.

NAD also found that the message conveyed by a modified version of the commercial – that satellite TV users may experience occasional outages due to rain and other inclement weather – was supported. DirecTV filed a cross appeal on that issue.

NARB, in its decision, said it did not agree with DirecTV “that the modified video reasonably conveys a message that DirecTV service is prone to frequent and protracted outages and is the source of significant frustration to DirecTV customers. ”Rather, the panel found that the message reasonably conveyed by the modified video was that satellite TV subscribers will likely experience occasional outages due to rain – a message the panel found was supported by the record in this case.

NARB is the appellate unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation and administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus. NARB Panel #232 members were associate professor and panel chair, Scott R. Hamula, Marketing VP of Mountain Dew & Energy at PepsiCo Global Beverage Group, Manos Spanos, Director of Brand Marketing at Ipreo, Abby Cohn, Executive VP of Marketing & Consumer Service Sales at Schuman Cheese, Jim Low, and Founder & CEO of BlackBird Communications Group, Jim Tenny.

Commercial can be viewed here: www.youtube.com/watch