Hot on Facebook

Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Verizon Sues Alltel Over Guinea Pig Ad

Wireless giant says claims made in commercial are untrue

By Dustin Lushing, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 6, 2008 1:23 PM CST

(Newser) – Verizon Wireless is suing rival Alltel for false advertising over a television commercial featuring a vicious guinea pig, the Register reports. In the ad, a caged rodent named Alice is compared to Verizon customers who lack the freedom to change calling plans without extending their contracts. Released from her cage, Alice goes for the jugular of a Verizon rep. Verizon says that it no longer requires customers to extend contracts.

The ad began running when Verizon did prohibit its customers from changing their plans. After the company altered its policy in October, it urged Alltel to pull the ad. Last year Verizon had to pay $1 million for misleadingly touting its wireless plan as "unlimited."

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

Buildings on Market Street are seen reflected in a Verizon sign in Philadelphia, in this April 30, 2007 file photo. Verizon Communications Inc. on Monday, July 30, 2007 reported second-quarter earnings... (Associated Press)

An Alltel Corp., sign is displayed on one of the buildings at the company's headquarters in Little Rock, Ark., in this May 21, 2007 file photo.(AP Photo/Danny Johnston, file) (Associated Press)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Alltel Wireless - Alice (brentter (YouTube))

View larger videos >>

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Verizon Seeks Alltel Deal, Challenge to Top Dog AT&T

Wireless companies are in negotiations to cover 80 million customers

(NEWSER) - Verizon Communications is in negotiations to buy wireless carrier Alltel, a merger that would cover 80 million US subscribers and create the nation's biggest cell-phone company, the Wall Street Journal reports—though the potential $27 billion deal could easily fall through. But if it's consummated, and the feds see no antitrust problems, the new company would surpass AT&T, with 71 million customers, as No. 1. More»

Consumers Giving Up Landlines

One-sixth of US households are now wireless

(NEWSER) - Mobile and Internet-based phones are replacing landline phones in US households as younger Americans lead a movement to newer technologies, reports USA Today. The number of homes depending on wireless phones jumped 159% between 2004 and 2007. Nearly 35% of people 25-29 years old lived in wireless-only households in the second half of 2007, more than double the percentage of wireless-only 30-44 year olds. More»

AT&T Disconnects Pay Phones

Call a friend on your cell to report end of 129-year-old business

(NEWSER) - In 1878, one of AT&T’s ancestors introduced the first pay phone—an ordinary phone with an attendant nearby to take callers’ cash. Now the company is discontinuing its pay-phone operations, it announced today, 129 years later. With roughly 80% of Americans owning cellphones, pay phones had shrunk to “a very small part of our overall business,” a spokesman said. More»

More Americans Go Wireless

Landline use falls; one-eighth of US households rely on cellphones only

(NEWSER) - More and more Americans are bypassing landlines and using only cellphones, a new CDC survey says. The trend encompasses people of all ages and incomes, and it's especially pronounced among the young and the poor. One-eighth (12.8%) of all households use only a cellphone—up from 3.2% in 2003—and the proportion in the 25-to-29 demographic is nearly 30%. More»

Customers Not Happy About Verizon's New $2 Fee

Complaints flood Twitter

(NEWSER) - Will outraged consumers convince Verizon to backtrack on its newest fee , just as they did with Bank of America ? Perhaps: The New York Times notes that yesterday's announcement of the $2 fee, which will be levied against customers who make one-time bill payments using a credit or debit card over the phone or online, led to quite an uproar on Twitter . (Sample tweet : "Scumbags, as if we don't pay enough for crappy signals and service ... Verizon will charge fee for paying bill.") Some upset customers set up online petitions , complained in Verizon forums, and planned to flood the company with paper payments in order to ensure it makes no profit from the new fee. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Verizon Sues Alltel Over Guinea Pig Ad