AT&T, Verizon, and the Major Fail of Mudslinging Marketing

If you have watched any live television in the past month with the unfortunate inability to fast forward through the commercials, you have most likely witnessed the back and forth advertising campaigns of AT&T and Verizon. It started with Verizon’s launching of the new Droid phone and an all-out bashing of the current king of all smartphones, the iPhone. Verizon decided to seize the opportunity to point out AT&T’s lacking 3G coverage along the way, playing on the iPhone’s catch phrase, “There’s an app for that”. Verizon cleverly changed it to “There’s a map for that”, showing US maps displaying the disparities between the two competitors’ 3G coverage.

Not to be outdone, AT&T has launched its retaliation campaign, bringing in celebrity Luke Wilson to point out that AT&T has coverage for 97% of the country (deceitfully refraining from stating the fact that this number is not reflective of their spotty 3G-specific coverage, which is what Verizon was attacking), and attempting to punch back at Verizon by stating that the only comparison chart column they excel in is the one for a company name that starts with the letter ‘V’.

It’s only been a few weeks since the feuding began, but I’m already disgusted and exhausted with it. From my perspective, this type of advertising would be enough to drive me to cancel my contract with either one of them and find another cell phone service provider.

In my opinion, mudslinging is the not only the wrong way to sell your products, your politics, your services and/or your brand; it’s the lowest form of campaign imaginable.

Whatever the context, is it really a wise move to spend the majority of your time and money proclaiming what your competitor does not have, or has failed in, or pointing out their weaknesses and mistakes? Shouldn’t you instead be sharing with the world the amazing things that YOU have to offer, without basing your purported greatness on its comparison to others?

I firmly believe that if you feel the need to chop others down in order to make yourself appear taller, you have a problem. Insecurity and lack of confidence in who you are and what you have to offer are what come shining through this marketing tactic, and that is a major fail in my book. I’m not interested in voting for a candidate that spends less time telling me what they are going to do than they spend telling me how bad their opposition is. In essence this method is suggesting that I make a choice for the lesser of two evils – neither choice is a good one, so let’s make sure you know which choice is the worst one.

If these are the options, I would like to choose none.

This ‘rant’ is not really about AT&T vs. Verizon or the Droid vs. the iPhone. I’m actually a T-mobile customer and I have a myTouch 3G, so none of these battles really affect me personally. But I am thoroughly disgusted with campaigns – advertising, branding, marketing, politics, etc. – that insult my intelligence by assuming that I would prefer to settle, making a decision for malicious mediocrity over whatever they can prove is worse.

My kids, though not entirely grown, have moved past the point of constant bickering and poking and teasing. It is refreshing to see them enjoy each others’ friendship and to have interesting and funny conversations with them. My wife and I are thankful that we have moved beyond those childish years for the most part and are seeing our offspring become responsible, caring and self-confident enough to discard the insecurity-driven need for belittling others in an effort to feel better about themselves.

It is unfortunate and disappointing that certain media’s example of how adults treat each other can sometimes be far more childish, irresponsible and insecure than our own children.

My advice and my challenge, for myself and for you: don’t waste your energy looking to others for your own self-worth. You are a unique individual with much to offer. Use that energy to search within yourself for the priceless value that is who you are, and then grow and share the amazing gift of you. In your life, your relationships, your job, your self-marketing – in every context.

Because in the end, no one else can do you like you. And that makes you a one-of-a-kind treasure.

No one else can beat that.