So AT&T has struck back at Verizon’s coverage attack ads, by having Luke Wilson stand on a huge map and talk about all the areas where AT&T has coverage. It’s important to note that he says “coverage” and not “3G coverage”. I’m pretty sure he’s talking about places where a person can use their phone, but not at 3G speeds. I like Luke Wilson, but these commercials just rub me the wrong way. The fact that I am a Verizon customer has nothing to do with it, I swear.

The way I’ve seen them is as follows. This one airs:

then a couple of other commercials try to sell me stuff, and then the ad CONTINUES with this:

While I will admit that it’s kind of clever to have the conclusion after non-AT&T ads, it gets REALLY annoying when you see it numerous times in one night. This was the case during the CBS 2-hour comedy slot on Monday. I don’t know if AT&T assumes that people who watched the first hour weren’t tuning in for the second, but I personally got annoyed the second time around. Why? Because I knew precisely what was going to happen after the first ad cut off. Oh, Luke. You’re no Justin Long, and I would STILL be annoyed if I had to watch him in a similar ad.

New Ad

Now AT&T has a non-map-related ad with Luke Wilson, where he helps a Verizon customer multi-task. You see, AT&T allows its customers to talk on their phone and browse the web at the same time. That’s all fine and good, but who actually TALKS on their cell phones anymore? I honestly am rarely in a situation where I find myself on the phone and wanting to browse the web.

Apple Also Runs Multitasking Ads

To complete the 1-2 multi-tasking punch, Apple also has an ad that touts the iPhone’s ability to do voice and data simultaneously.

Too bad the iPhone can’t natively run multiple apps, like Pandora while web browsing or typing an email. That ability, I suspect, is far more useful to most users than being on a call and being able to change a reservation. But, in the end we all get better smartphones because of the competition we are seeing these days between Verizon/Droid and AT&T/Apple. When all phones and networks can do all things, what will we have to complain about?