Qwest takes on Cox in new ads

Qwest Communications International is taking aim at Cox Communications in a new advertising campaign that highlights the intense rivalry between the two companies to sign up high-speed Internet customers. A Cox official responded by calling the claims in the new Qwest ad “disingenuous” and “patently false.”

The television ad, which began airing in the Valley this week, pokes fun at Cox rate increases by depicting a fictional game show called “Jack Up My Price.”

The host asks a contestant to try to jack up his cable bill as high as he can get it, after which the contestant pulls a lever and a miniature rocket ship climbs up a board behind them.

The commercial then contrasts the rising cable prices with a Qwest “Price for Life offer that guarantees a permanent rate of $21.99 a month for customers of its digital subscriber line Internet service.

The ads, which were produced by the McClain Finlon advertising agency in Denver, are running in markets throughout Qwest’s 14-state service territory, said Laura Sankey, Qwest’s vice president of corporate marketing and advertising. The ads specifically name Cox in markets where it is the competing cable company and Comcast in markets where it is the competitor, she said.

“What we have found is that cable rate increases disappoint customers,” she said. “We are trying to make sure that they know they can lock in a good value with the Qwest high-speed Internet product.”

The “Price for Life” offer carries some conditions. The customer must agree to make at least a two-year commitment to Qwest high-speed Internet service, and it also must be bundled with home telephone service from Qwest. The price guarantee ends if the customer alters service. And customers must sign up by Oct. 14.

According to Qwest, Cox has raised its Internet prices at least three times since 2001. But Qwest spokesman Jeff Mirasola admitted price comparisons can be tricky because the companies offer various packages at various prices for packages that bundle Internet service with telephone and video services. The companies also offer services with different Internet speeds at differing prices.

Mirasola said Qwest also has charged higher rates on Internet service since 2001, but only when the company introduced a top-of-the-line service with a higher speed.

“We haven’t had an increase on lower speeds,” he said. “When the price went up, we were offering a different product.”

Cox Arizona Vice President Ivan Johnson said the implication of the commercial that cable rates have been rising rapidly is “patently false.” He said Cox has not raised its Internet rates in three years even as it improved download and upload speeds.

The best comparison is what the two companies charge per megabits per second, and by that calculation, Cox has the advantage, he said.

“What they are saying is disingenuous at best,” Johnson said of the Qwest ads. “But never let the facts get in the way of a good advertising campaign.”

This isn’t the first time to two companies have tangled over their advertising. In June the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, acting on a complaint by Cox, said Qwest was misleading in making claims that suggest its DSL customers receive direct and unshared connections to the Internet.

The BBB concluded that only a single component of a DSL network — the portion running from the customer to the first aggregation point in the network — is dedicated to and used solely by that customer. The BBB recommended that in future advertising Qwest use qualifying language to accurately describe the nature of its connection.

In a statement, Qwest disagreed with some of the conclusions but said it would take the bureau’s recommendations into account in future advertising.

Johnson said it’s too soon to know if Cox would file a similar complaint about the latest Qwest ads.