In the mobile space, the big carriers spend billions in advertising each year (according to Twinloops Blog). You may have seen some of their commercials. Verizon has a current campaign touting "The Dead Zone," a place where cell phone coverage goes to die. The style of the commercials parodies horror movies, and includes either creepy old folks or a set of odd, identically-dressed boys you might find in Children of Corn or The Village:

Verizon Creepy Old Neighbor Lady Dead Zone Commercial
Verizon Freaky Kids Dead Zone commercial

But they're not the only carrier who went with the movie theme. "Sprint Productions" launched commercials this year featuring the Samsung Instinct, and touted them the "Greatest Product Placement Movies of All Time":

Sprint Commercial 1
Sprint Commercial 2

And though AT&T avoided the trailer-type campaign, Apple's latest iPhone 3G commercial had a, "Get-Smart-action-film" quality to it:

Apple iPhone

AT&T, who also competes in the cable space, has been using a fairy tale type of campaign against Cox Communications, featuring actor Stephen Root as the storyteller, pointing out the downside to Cox's cable service. Well, out here in Southern California, new Cox ads have appeared featuring a fairy tale book with a storytelling narration, strikingly similar to AT&T's. In fact, I thought it was AT&T the first time I saw it.

Why the copycat advertising? Is the idea to confuse the customer, so that it dilutes any impact the competitor's campaign has? Either way, it's interesting to see how little differentiation there is despite the billions of dollars spent.

Phil | examplify.com