Island of Misfit Toys

Verizon to AT&T: We Taunt You a Second Time

John Paczkowski in Mobile on February 3, 2010 at 12:56 pm PT

If the additional $2 billion AT&T has allocated for wireless capital spending in 2010 is the company’s answer to critics of its network performance, it had best start putting it to good use–and soon. Because rival Verizon, which molded the public’s perception of AT&T’s infrastructure failings into a clever ad campaign for its own network, is back with a new pair of commercials.

AT&T, Verizon Drop “There’s a Map for That” Suits

John Paczkowski in News on December 2, 2009 at 8:45 am PT

AT&T and Verizon Wireless have dropped their lawsuits against each other over Verizon’s “There’s a Map for That” and “Island of Misfit Toys” commercials. Seems the “irreparable harm” AT&T claimed to have suffered as a result of the ads wasn’t so irreparable after all. Dismissals text after the jump.

Apple Joins AT&T/Verizon Spat With New iPhone Ads (See Them Here!)

John Paczkowski in News on November 23, 2009 at 10:19 am PT

Verizon’s merciless razzing of AT&T has finally elicited a reaction from Apple. Presumably peeved at seeing its marquee product banished to the “Island of Misfit Toys” in one of Big Red’s new holiday ads, Apple is launching a pair of new iPhone commericals that tout the smartphone and the network on which it runs.

AT&T Awarded Hug and a Box of Tissues in Verizon Ad Case

John Paczkowski in News on November 18, 2009 at 6:07 pm PT

Verizon was right. The truth does hurt. And it is especially painful when it’s meted out by a court of law. A U.S. District judge on Wednesday denied AT&T’s request to force Verizon to pull its “There’s A Map For That” and “Island of Misfit Toys” commercials, saying that while the ads might be “sneaky,” they are they are not misleading.

Frosty’s Winter Litigation Wonderland: AT&T Demands Verizon Pull Holiday iPhone Ads [With Full Complaint]

John Paczkowski in News on November 12, 2009 at 9:58 am PT

As clever as it is, Verizon’s reimagining of a Rankin/Bass animated Christmas television special as a criticism of AT&T’s wireless network coverage did not go over well with Ma Bell. On Wednesday, the carrier amended its complaint against Verizon, asking a federal court in Atlanta to force its rival to immediately pull the ad and two other holiday-themed spots that debuted with it.

Verizon Banishes iPhone to Island of Misfit Toys

John Paczkowski in News on November 9, 2009 at 8:47 am PT

If AT&T took offense at Verizon’s “There’s a Map for That” ad campaign, wait until it gets a load of its rival’s newest ad spots. Unfazed by AT&T’s litigious reply to its first effort, Verizon rolled out a trio of new anti-AT&T ads over the weekend and they are brutal in their criticism of the carrier’s network coverage.