AT&T CEO criticizes T-Mobile for its senior discount marketing campaign
AT&T (J) CEO John Stankey has a message to rival T-Mobile: Eliminate nonsense when advertising to seniors.
“They issued statements and went to market with inaccurate and false communications,” Stankey told Yahoo Finance Live. at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference this week (video above).
T Movable (TMUS) – long considered a smart marketer of its wireless brand – recently launched a campaign titled “Verizon and AT&T ban senior discounts. The marketing stunt claims that “92% of seniors in the United States can’t get wireless discounts from Verizon or AT&T because they don’t live in Florida.”
The campaign aims to shed light on T-Mobile’s Unlimited 55+ plan, which offers people over 55 a discount to access its network. An existing entry-level plan for people over 55 starts at $40 per month. AT&T also offers a 55+ plan, but that’s only available in Florida.
AT&T soon filed a lawsuit against T-Mobile in the Eastern District Court of Texas, claiming that T-Mobile had engaged in false advertising. T-Mobile did not immediately return Yahoo Finance’s request for comment.
“I felt like in this case, there was demonstrable harm to the market given the wide spread of this to the senior community,” Stankey added. “And I would like the courts to look at that and maybe do a little bit more scrutiny than doing it through traditional channels.”
When asked if T-Mobile’s tactics frustrate him, Stankey offered a blunt answer.
“We come to work every day, we know we’re going to have competition, and we’re working aggressively to do what we need to do to tell our story,” he said. “But I’m not going to sit back and ask someone not to tell the truth about my business. And from that point of view, you’re going to get an answer.”
Brian Sozzi is editor-in-chief and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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