AT&T has substantiated its guarantee claims for customers who experience internet and wireless connectivity outages in the context of the carrier’s “Knowing You Exist” commercial, the BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division (NAD) has ruled. The challenge was brought against AT&T by Charter.
That doesn’t mean that all of AT&T’s related advertising claims should remain unchanged, however. The NAD recommended AT&T modify or discontinue other claims related to its “AT&T Guarantee,” which appeared on AT&T’s website and in a series of “March Madness” TV commercials.
The decisions are in response to Charter’s challenges of more than a dozen 15- and 30-second commercials featuring vignettes of life situations that are “not guaranteed” and then introducing the new AT&T guarantee by stating, “You know what AT&T guarantees? The connectivity you depend on, the deals you want, and the service you deserve, or we’ll make it right.”
NAD ruled that, based on the evidence, consumers were unlikely to interpret the messages as a broad guarantee covering all outages and were also unlikely to believe that “making it right” would cover every possible type of outage. Instead, consumers would understand that “making it right” is part of the guarantee and only covers outages covered by it.
However, since the voiceover in the commercials explicitly states that “we’ll make it right” with on-screen text referencing “connectivity,” “deals,” and “service,” some consumers may take away a message that AT&T will make it right for when there is some kind of issue relating to connectivity, deals, or service that is covered by the guarantee, according to NAD.
The AT&T ruling is the second recent ruling on apparent misleading advertising claims.
Last month, some T-Mobile advertising was being questioned. In that case, the National Advertising Review Board asked the carrier to discontinue two claims and modify its advertising to avoid certain unsupported implied claims.
