The telecom ad wars heated up this week when AT&T unveiled a new spot featuring actor Luke Wilson attacking competitor T-Mobile directly, calling the company “the master of breaking promises.” 

The ad, developed by Translation, follows a direct attack by Verizon, which featured an ad with Kevin Hart calling BS on T-Mobile for claiming to be the best, based on “random awards.” 

The AT&T ad opens with Wilson noting that the company has been around since 1876. “When you’ve been around that long, you spot a hustle coming from a mile away,” Wilson tells the audience.  

He continues, “T-Mobile is the master of breaking promises,” and that while that firm “stays caught up in untruths, AT&T keeps building what really matters—America's most reliable network.” 

Last month Verizon unveiled a new Kevin Hart-fronted ad, titled “Don’t Buy The BS.” The ad opens with an exasperated Hart seemingly outraged by a T-Mobile ad claiming the mobile service provider to now be the best network. In the ad that Hart is watching on his TV there’s an asterisk citing the source of the claim: Ookla Speed Test. 

“What?” Exclaims Hart, “T-Mobile is saying they’re the best by using a bunch of random awards?” 

 Awards are “not all the same,” Hart adds. “Some are questionable. Trust me, I got a bunch.” He then walks over to a display case and points out a couple, including “Best Comedian Under 5’6 In A Movie Inspired By A Board Game Award,” and “Least Supportive Actor.”  

He then rattles off a bunch of awards won by Verizon presumed to be more meaningful. “How is T-Mobile possibly the best?” he wonders aloud.  

Responding to the AT&T and Verizon barbs, a T-Mobile spokesperson wrote in an email, “When you’re doing right by customers and winning as a result, people come for you — and following T-Mobile’s record setting earnings shared [October 23rd], it’s clear AT&T and Verizon are feeling the pressure based on their latest spots. We’ve been in their shoes.” 

The spokesperson also referred to a statement from T-Mobile President of Marketing, Strategy and Products Mike Katz, who weighed in on social. 

After a complaint by Verizon earlier this year, the National Advertising Review Board in August recommended that T-Mobile discontinue some of its savings claims for consumers that switch from a competitor.