Some T-Mobile advertising is being questioned by the BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Review Board (NARB).
NARB, the appellate advertising body of BBB National Programs, is asking the carrier to discontinue two claims and modify its advertising to avoid certain unsupported implied claims.
The advertising claims T-Mobile is being asked to discontinue are, “Families can switch and save 20% vs. the other big guys plans plus streaming services,” and “Switch and save versus AT&T and Verizon’s comparable plans plus streaming.”
The review of the claims centered on whether T-Mobile’s addition of the phrase “plus streaming services,” or “plus streaming,” to its reference to monthly plan costs for Verizon or AT&T (or “the other big guys”), clearly communicates to reasonable consumers that T-Mobile’s price comparisons are based on adding to the cost of the competitor’s monthly price plan.
The panel further recommended that T-Mobile modify its advertising to avoid implying the following:
- Every mobile plan offered by T-Mobile costs less than comparable plans offered by T-Mobile’s competitors, including Verizon.
- All consumers on all of T-Mobile’s plans will save money or save 20% when compared to consumers on competitors’ plans.
The actions were prompted by a challenge from Verizon. NAD recommended that T-Mobile discontinue the savings claims that appeared in various advertising and other company material:
- A “Save on Every Plan” brochure
- The commercials “Top Three plays of the Day” and “Holidays are Coming in Hot: Families: Save 20%”
- A T-Mobile USA press release
- T-Mobile’s Savings Calculator website
During the challenge, T-Mobile informed NAD that it had modified the savings claims to explicitly reference streaming services in the claims themselves and modified its disclosures for the savings claim.
In its advertiser statement, T-Mobile stated that while it “disagrees with the panel’s decision,” it will “comply with the panel’s decision.”
Earlier this year, T-Mobile won a NAD Fast-Track SWIFT challenge brought by Verizon, related to T-Mobile’s advertising claim to be the “first and only” U.S. wireless provider to work with Starlink to provide satellite-powered text messaging.
