Time Warner Is in Hog Heaven
By Mavis Scanlon
Time Warner Cable in Los Angeles wants to let EchoStar know that being a pig isn’t so bad.
After all, as the operator pointed out in an open letter to customers in the Los Angeles Times, pigs are versatile and smart, are ingrained in our pop culture (think Miss Piggy and Porky Pig) and are relied upon by humans for everything from food to clothing to medicine.
The ad, which ran in Los Angeles, Orange County and the San Fernando Valley Dec. 17, was TWC’s tongue-in-cheek response to EchoStar’s pointed online, print and broadcast campaign bashing rising cable rates and featuring a pig wearing a dirty T-shirt with the tag line “Stop feeding the cable pig.”
“We just wanted to respond and have some fun with it,” says Deane Leavenworth, VP government and media relations for the division, while at the same time “remind customers what cable brings to the table.” Employee morale got a boost as well, he said, as the full-page ad was plastered up in the region’s call centers.
While the ad touts the numerous video channels, VOD, local broadcast channels, high-speed data and the fact that cable does not require annual contracts, there is no mention of price, which is the point of the EchoStar campaign.
As EchoStar spokesman Steve Caulk (who had yet to see the ad) said, “Anytime anybody wants to call attention to our cable pig advertising campaign and, in so doing highlight awareness of cable’s long history of price increases, we’re pleased.”
By Mavis Scanlon
Time Warner Cable in Los Angeles wants to let EchoStar know that being a pig isn’t so bad.
After all, as the operator pointed out in an open letter to customers in the Los Angeles Times, pigs are versatile and smart, are ingrained in our pop culture (think Miss Piggy and Porky Pig) and are relied upon by humans for everything from food to clothing to medicine.
The ad, which ran in Los Angeles, Orange County and the San Fernando Valley Dec. 17, was TWC’s tongue-in-cheek response to EchoStar’s pointed online, print and broadcast campaign bashing rising cable rates and featuring a pig wearing a dirty T-shirt with the tag line “Stop feeding the cable pig.”
“We just wanted to respond and have some fun with it,” says Deane Leavenworth, VP government and media relations for the division, while at the same time “remind customers what cable brings to the table.” Employee morale got a boost as well, he said, as the full-page ad was plastered up in the region’s call centers.
While the ad touts the numerous video channels, VOD, local broadcast channels, high-speed data and the fact that cable does not require annual contracts, there is no mention of price, which is the point of the EchoStar campaign.
As EchoStar spokesman Steve Caulk (who had yet to see the ad) said, “Anytime anybody wants to call attention to our cable pig advertising campaign and, in so doing highlight awareness of cable’s long history of price increases, we’re pleased.”
