• by Tanya Gazdik , December 30, 2015

AT&T and DirecTV poke fun at consumers who continue to choose cable over satellite TV in a campaign breaking Dec. 31 during the College Football Playoff semifinal games.

The effort will roll out nationally to cable, broadcast and other sports on Jan. 1. It introduces a fictitious pioneer family living in modern-day American suburbs.

The family, “the Settlers,” demonstrates how consumers no longer need to “settle” for underperforming service and experience when it comes to enjoying content. It aims to highlight DIRECTV’s advantages over cable.

The first two spots in the campaign -- "Neighbors" and "Satisfaction" -- are also on YouTube. Grey produced the new ads, which were directed by Tom Kuntz of MJZ. MEC is handing the media planning.

“Our focus is on the national broadcast television at this time with a digital buy and other extensions planned for the future,” Josh Stern, senior director, advertising at AT&T, tells Marketing Daily. The campaign targets cable customers, he says.

“We're letting them know the status quo is no longer the only option,” Stern says. “We’ve successfully used comparisons through many of our campaigns to demonstrate the value and superior experience associated with DirecTV compared to our cable competitors with a focus on our superior customer satisfaction score and our Wireless Genie Mini products.”