Verizon Ad Sticks It to AT&T, Talks Up iPhone

As I wrote last week, American consumers love comparative, creative advertising. Verizon's "There's a Map for That" campaign showing AT&T's spotty 3G coverage is brilliant—and just got a whole lot better over the weekend.

Meanwhile, AT&T has countered with a silly lawsuit. It's silly because AT&T calls attention to its lack of 3G coverage areas by saying that Verizon's map of AT&T 3G coverage is misleading. That is, there's some coverage, just not 3G.

While AT&T was busy with its lawsuit, Verizon came out with Christmas-themed "There's a Map for That" ads that really drove home the point that AT&T's 3G coverage, well, stinks. The best of the ads is below.

The most shocking part of this ad is that Verizon actually talks up the iPhone's strengths. Verizon, which carries iPhone's newest competitor, Droid, is basically saying that the only thing wrong with the iPhone is the carrier. Can it be that the rumors of a Verizon iPhone in the works are true?

Apple will launch a smaller "worldmode" iPhone next year that will be ready for Verizon Wireless to sell in the third quarter of 2010, according to an analyst report citing unnamed handset maker sources in Taiwan. It'll have a 2.8-inch diagonal screen, smaller than the iPhone's 3.5-inch display.

The worldmode iPhone could be sold through AT&T and Verizon in the U.S., as well as other carriers globally, according to an Apple Insider report.