Big Telco's Ad Blitz

This week, we take a look at advertising, specifically two ads placed in the Washington Post, on the same day by a large telecommunications company. One ad deals with the issue of Internet Neutrality (see TWN a few weeks ago). The ad slams dot com companies for seeking some sort of unfair trade advantage through federal regulation. Pages later we see another ad, by the same company, this one urging readers to contact Congress and ask them to allow the same telecomm to enter the cable market without having to apply through the normal franchising process that other cable companies have had to use. So on one hand, dot coms are vilified for asking Congress for special treatment. On the other hand, unnamed telco urges us to ask Congress for special treatment. Asked about this discord, a spokesman for the company stated, "You have to understand the lingo here. "Special treatment" is when other people ask for an exemption, tax break, or handout. When we ask for an exemption, tax break, or handout we only want to 'level the playing field."