• Minneapolis Star Tribune, Thursday, December 2, 2010 11:30 AM

Talk about David and Goliath! After US Internet Minnetonka used billboards to tsk-tsk Comcast for its CEO's pay, the cable giant now refuses to air a TV ad for its tiny competitor. Comcast refused to air the ad on the grounds that it was for a direct competitor of Comcast's Internet service, which costs $39.95 to $114.95 for non-cable TV subscribers.

The TV ad features Fancy Ray McCloney, head of Minneapolis-based ad agency Chocolate Orchid Productions, as a fast-talking salesman who says: "Why pay $30 to $60 a month when you can get the same quality service for as low as $14.95?" The ad, which McCloney has posted on YouTube (at tinyurl.com/374f3jx), doesn't mention Comcast by name.

"I spent thousands of dollars to get this ad produced, and now Comcast won't run it," said Joe Caldwell, CEO of USI Wireless, the wholly owned subsidiary of US Internet that runs the Minneapolis Wi-Fi network. "I think maybe they're mad at me because I said the CEO of Comcast made too much money."

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