Ina Fried

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Merger Opponent Parodies T-Mobile Ads to Attack AT&T Deal

This is the part of any merger fight where reporters’ eyes start to glaze over. Those in favor of the deal have made their case and those against it have made theirs and, quite frankly, it is rare that any side has much new to say.

However, this morning I stumbled upon some videos on YouTube done by Free Press, a consumer group that opposes the proposed $39 billion AT&T-T-Mobile deal. The videos are parodies of T-Mobile’s recent ad campaign, which was itself a parody of Apple’s Mac vs. PC ads.

There are several of the videos. And while the attacks are familiar — warnings that the deal will lead to job cuts and higher prices — at least the medium is inventive.

For those who prefer lots of text over a quick chuckle, AT&T has also made a revised filing with the FCC arguing the benefits of the deal and Sprint has issued its response.

“AT&T’s ‘do-over’ submission is a last-ditch attempt to distract regulators, politicians and consumers from the fact that it has failed to provide any evidence that its proposed takeover of T-Mobile yields meaningful benefits,” Sprint Senior VP Vonya McCann said in a statement. “Its latest model, clearly constructed with predetermined results in mind, does nothing to change the negative consequences of the takeover for consumers in the form of higher prices, reduced innovation and decreased investment.”

As for me, I’d go with the videos.

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