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AT&T's 'American Idol' SMS Decried As Spam

Jan 14, 2009, 2:15 PM by Eric M. Zeman

AT&T recently sent an SMS message promoting the television debut of American Idol's most recent season to a 'significant' number of its 75 million subscribers, including those who've voted in past seasons and others described as "heavy texters." The SMS advertisement urged subscribers to tune into the broadcast and also pointed users to a Web site where they could find more details. It also told subscribers how to unsubscribe from receiving such messages. Customers quickly complained about the message and its content, calling it unsolicited spam. AT&T spokesperson Mark Siegel said, "We want people to watch the show and participate. It makes perfect sense to use texting to tell people about a show built on texting." AT&T is a major sponsor of the show.

New York Times »

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Comments

This forum is closed.

This forum is closed.

Drunk

Jan 14, 2009, 2:42 PM

This is another point from AT&T

I really hate this company, in my opinion and experence with them. I hate spam, I hate spam texts even more, I hate American Idol, and combine all of those with AT&T and you've got a room full of hate and bad words.
I think AT&T should be sued for this, and in part of that all the towers have to be allocated to T-Mobile.
SMS is not email and shouldn't have any text that is not wanted.

htimsabbub23

You are like every other person on this website that complains about everything and is full of hate..If AT&T wants to send a free email out to its customers let them. If you don't want text then call customer service and BLOCK THEM. Why not use there ...
(continues)

...

NokiaGoth

Spam is Spam, no matter how its sent to you. I give ATT props for their courage in doing this. but i would suggest that they don't do it again..less their customers rise up and smite them.

NokiaGoth 😈

wolfdude359

So I have to ask, are television commercials Spam? We don't ask for them. We spend our hard earned money to PAY for a SERVICE that we ENJOY and USE on a daily basis with television. So stop your complaining!

will54880

Jan 15, 2009, 1:03 PM

Here is what you do

Highlight the message
go to options (depending on phone)
select delete
confirm delete

it takes less than 10 seconds

Next time have something valid to complain about. 🙄

giantangrysquid

select delete
confirm delete

it takes less than 10 seconds

So how do you feel about email spam? It takes less than 10 seconds to delete an email, too.

What if your phone vibrated 3 times a day with promotional te...
(continues)

...

giantangrysquid

Jan 15, 2009, 5:30 PM

It's absolutely spam

This quote says it all:

Richard Cox, the chief information officer for Spamhaus, a nonprofit antispam organization based in Britain, countered: "ItÃ¢â‚¬™s absolutely spam. It's an unsolicited text message. People who received it didn't ask for it. That's the universal definition of spam."

Even worse than an unwelcome email message is one that comes when you're busy and sounds like it's from someone you know.

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