Consumer Law

Negative advertising has gotten a boost from cable companies such as Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, and Verizon recently. The latest advertisements from cable companies are focusing on attacking the shortcomings of their competitors rather than touting their own advantages. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the culprit appears to be the high turnover rate in the cable business - up to 25% of customers per year as estimated by analyst Craig Moffett. The result has been an aggressive advertising campaign with major companies pouring more money into negative advertisements. Examples of these aggressive ads include a Time Warner Cable ad taking shots at phone companies offering cable service by showing a "boy genius" looking perplexed over his latest telephone bill. Another DirecTV advertisement depicts a group of cable executives dismissing complaints as a result of bad customers, not poor customer service. Evidently increased competition has prompted cable companies to shed the gloves in order to win the fight to keep their customer base.