Ithaca College

 A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has found that an AT&T Services Inc. television commercial (the “Historic Launch”) conveys an unsupported claim that with over 99% reliability, its services are superior compared to at least one viable competitive service, and recommended that the message be discontinued.

 Following the National Advertising Division’s decision, AT&T appealed its recommendation to the NARB, the appellate unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. The NARB panel agreed with NAD’s determination that the Historic Launch commercial is comparative in nature. The panel concluded that, at a minimum, the commercial conveys to reasonable consumers a message that with over 99% reliability, the AT&T services are superior compared to at least one viable competitive service. A central focus of the commercial is the failure of a third-party service, which leads to the individuals gathered together in front of a television screen and a computer to miss the “historic launch.” The panel noted that the voiceover reinforces this comparative communication with the statement “Life is too short for unreliable entertainment. Get AT&T . . .” Further, the characterization of the competitive service having failed “again” ensures that the message is one of comparative superiority – that AT&T’s reliability avoids problems consumers have with other services.

Although the NARB panel did not agree with NAD that the challenged commercial necessarily implies a comparison to competing cable services, given that AT&T did not offer any support for the message that its services are more reliable than a viable competitor (whether or not cable), the panel agreed with NAD in concluding that the commercial conveyed a comparative superiority message which was unsupported, and recommended that it be discontinued.

AT&T stated that it will comply with NARB’s findings. AT&T added that, while it “disagrees with NARB’s conclusion that the Historic Launch commercial communicated any comparative message,” and notes that the commercial had been permanently discontinued prior to Comcast’s challenge, it will take NARB’s recommendations into consideration when developing future advertising.

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 #253 members were Scott Hamula, Associate Professor and Panel Chair, Jennifer Gardner, Senior Director of Media North America, Unilever; Michael Cruz, Senior Director, Brand Marketing & Communications, New York Road Runners; Tracy Broderick, President, Karsh Hagen.

You can view the commercial here: https://youtu.be/IIgduUMTvV4