During the Super Bowl, Verizon aired a one-minute ad highlighting a series of remarkable stories from first responders and the people they rescued. The ad was thoughtful, well put-together, and drew attention to the sacrifice and courage of first responders in a most excellent way. The spot ended with a flawless Verizon plug: “They answer the call. Our job is to make sure they can get it.”
Unfortunately, as noted by a local radio station for one of the towns featured in the ad, the very first story featured clearly had nothing to do with Verizon. Despite the network’s promise to “make sure they can get” the call, the town of Quincy, IL is a total black spot for Verizon. Regardless of the ad’s fine intentions, Verizon ended up trading on the feel-goods of a town it doesn’t even cover.