NARB Recommends T-Mobile Discontinue or Modify Commercial to Better Disclose Conditions of Free iPhone Offer, 20% Savings Claim

New York, NY – December 30, 2024 – A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appellate advertising body of BBB National Programs, recommended that T-Mobile US, Inc. discontinue or modify its commercial to better disclose the material conditions of its free iPhone 16 Pro offer and its 20% rate plan savings claim compared to AT&T and Verizon. 

At issue is T-Mobile's “Top Three Plays of the Day” commercial, challenged by competitor AT&T Services, Inc. to BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division (NAD). The ad features influencer Kai Cenat, NFL star Patrick Mahomes, and rapper Snoop Dogg. The commercial claims customers can obtain a free iPhone and save 20% on monthly rate plans compared to major wireless providers, a message that appears on-screen and is reiterated when Snoop Dogg says, “Families can save 20% vs. the other big guys.” 

Following NAD's decision (Case No.7380), T-Mobile appealed NAD’s recommendation to discontinue or modify the challenged advertising. 

The NARB panel concluded that NAD’s analysis and recommendations are supported and should be upheld, including that T-Mobile’s claims (free iPhone 16 Pro and 20% monthly savings versus “the other big guys”) are linked together in the message conveying consumers can both obtain a free iPhone from T-Mobile and save 20% on monthly fees, and that the material limitations on T-Mobile’s offers are not clear and conspicuous in the commercial and are unlikely to be communicated to reasonable viewers.  

For these reasons, the NARB panel recommended that T-Mobile discontinue or modify the challenged commercial to better disclose the material conditions of T-Mobile’s offer of a free iPhone 16 Pro and its offer of saving 20% versus AT&T and Verizon. 

In its advertiser statement, T-Mobile stated they will "comply with the panel’s recommendation to modify its disclosures in the challenged commercial," although they disagreed with the panel’s decision regarding the two offers. 

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