T-Mobile US' (NYSE:TMUS) "#NeverSettleforVerizon" Twitter advertising campaign appeared to run into some troubles after a significant number of Twitter users lashed out at T-Mobile and defended Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) in reaction to the ad. Seemingly in response to the situation, T-Mobile appears to have withdrawn its ad on Twitter.
T-Mobile earlier this month launched its #NeverSettleforVerizon Twitter hashtag and advertising campaign, seeking to subvert Verizon's existing "Never Settle" tagline. As part of that effort, T-Mobile began offering Verizon customers the opportunity to try T-Mobile's network and service for up to two weeks at no cost.
Yesterday, T-Mobile purchased a $200,000 Promoted Trend ad on Twitter to promote its #NeverSettleForVerizon hashtag, according to Adweek--but a number of Twitter users responded to the ad with their own Tweets in support of Verizon. "Funny, I left @TMobile and went back to @VerizonWireless because the service on TMo was awful. #NeverSettleForVerizon," wrote Twitter user @Maxicat.
Adweek wrote that T-Mobile appeared to withdraw its Promoted Trend ad on Twitter before it was scheduled to end. The publication noted that T-Mobile did not directly respond to a question about whether it withdrew the Promoted Trend ad in response to the backlash. "We've never been shy about going after any competitors, and that's not going to stop," Peter DeLuca, T-Mobile's senior vice president of brand and advertising, told Adweek. "This campaign has been running for over a week now through social and traditional media--and that's not going to change." Article