Apple's Amnesia: Verizon Once Called iPhone the "iDon't"; Now They're Partners
Apple (AAPL), Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (DTEGY) have all staked out their positions for the coming iPhone war in their advertising. But to do so Apple and Verizon had to bury a hatchet: Two years ago, Verizon skewered the iPhone in its advertising as a broken toy that never worked properly, calling it the "iDon't" (video below).
All that is history, of course, as the Feb. 10 launch of the Verizon iPhone 4 approaches. Here's how it's shaking out:
- Apple's new iPhone ad positions the phone as being identical on both Verizon and AT&T:
- Verizon has gone for a more self-congratulatory "awesome event" theme.
AT&T is now discounting its old iPhones at just $49 each.- T-Mobile has taken the anti-iPhone/4G is better than 3G slot.
- Sprint just seems to be ignoring the whole thing with its EVO 4G ads.
That's not a surprise -- the arrival of the device on a different network was always destined to suck the air out of the room for competing marketers -- but it wasn't always this way.
In days of yore -- 2009, to be exact -- Verizon regarded the AT&T iPhone as a joke. Verizon made at least three commercials skewering AT&T's iPhone as next to useless. Two of those ads focused on AT&T's spotty service for the iPhone, but two of them also targeted the iPhone's shortcomings directly. One of called it a "misfit toy"; another described it as the "iDon't." In the phone business, today's mortal enemies are merely tomorrow's joint-venture partners, it seems. Here they are:
"iDon't"
"Misfit Toys"
"There's a Map for That"
Related: