# Bell's new ad



## jeepguy (Apr 4, 2008)

Talk about grasping at straws :lmao: 
Iphone Must be hurting their business.


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## genexxa (Jun 10, 2006)

Lmao!!!!


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

LOLOMGWTFBBQ!!! That has to be fake!


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## miniphone (Jul 24, 2008)

jeepguy said:


> Talk about grasping at straws :lmao:
> Iphone Must be hurting their business.


I tried the Apple eater recently :lmao: , it's not a match to Apple slick and polish UI, not even close.  


I don't care about Video recording, I want copy paste!


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## overkill (May 15, 2005)

Bring the beavers back, at least they somewhat knew what they were talking about.


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## miniphone (Jul 24, 2008)

By saying it's an Apple eater, that's a huge recognition that iPhone is the bench mark.:lmao: 
What's next, Bell stores will have iPhone and Apple eater on display next eacher, or take the Apple eater challenge.


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)




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## miniphone (Jul 24, 2008)

slicecom said:


>


:clap: 
:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:


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## West Coast Boy (Sep 3, 2004)

We have a Bell kiosk at the mall near my office, I will try to remember to go through there and see if there is any advertising like this there.


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## Arne (Jan 27, 2003)

genexxa said:


> Lmao!!!!


Perhaps due to my weird sense of humour, I don't get the joke in the original ad. But the parody is funny. :lmao: 
Questions to consider:
Does the Instinct have Copy & Paste?
Does the Instinct have Voice Dialing?
Does the Instinct have Turn-by-Turn GPS?
Does the Instinct have EDGE & 3G?

With the the Canadian media and public iPhone frenzy, do you think Bell would just sit idly by? It makes perfect sense for Bell to launch aggressive marketing and advertising campaigns in response to the iPhone. And it makes perfect sense they will try to convince cellphone users the Instinct (or whatever make & model) is better - whether it is or not - using selective emphasis of features &/or prices.

“If you tell a lie long and loud enough, eventually people believe it to be the truth." – referring to P.R. ﬂacks & advertising


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

Arne said:


> Perhaps due to my weird sense of humour, I don't get the joke.
> Questions to consider:
> Does the Instinct have Copy & Paste?
> Does the Instinct have Voice Dialing?
> ...


I agree that it makes perfect sense to launch an aggressive ad campaign, but this ad campaign is quite humerous. 

While I really like their new minimalistic logo, the bolding and colouring of *er* makes no sense whatsoever and doesn't relate to Bell at all, and the models holding onto the big B is just hillarious! 

Not to mention that the Instinct is nowhere near an iPhone killer. They should have focused on what they have that's better than Rogers, and that's cheaper data plans and no contract obligations.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

The only thing the repeatedly bold "er" reminds me of is "emergency room."

I sentence the Bell executives to watch the first season of Mad Men and pretend that there is a lot happening.

When you have people longing for the beaver ads, you know you've tripped up considerably.


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## Arne (Jan 27, 2003)

HowEver said:


> When you have people longing for the beaver ads, you know you've tripped up considerably.


:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

with regard to the "er"
...

it *might* have made sense if they had've limited its use to a suffix... which makes sense... sort of

bolding it in the middle of random words is ridiculous and is something i don't und*er*stand...


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

jawknee said:


> with regard to the "er"
> ...
> 
> it *might* have made sense if they had've limited its use to a suffix... which makes sense... sort of
> ...


Yeah, that would be been _slightly_ bett*er*.


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

slicecom said:


> Yeah, that would be been _slightly_ bett*er*.


yeah... slightli*er* bett*er*


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## classicbean (Jun 7, 2008)

I hate everything about this campaign.
I hate the logo.
I hate the concept.
I hate the er - which doesn't even mean anything.
I hate that I actually miss Frank and Gordon - both of whom I hated.


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## KMPhotos (Jun 17, 2008)

jeepguy said:


> Talk about grasping at straws :lmao:
> Iphone Must be hurting their business.


I've never liked advertising where one company uses the name of its competitor in the ads. To me it just feels like you are cheapening the product you are trying to sell. It's like saying, hey - sure everyone likes this one product, but why not look at ours. To me it's quite the opposite, If I saw Bell's ad and didn't have an iPhone already, I'd be like - oh what's this Apple product it's trying to compete with. It's pretty much free advertising for Apple. I mean, it's not like you see Coke mentioning Pepsi in its ads.
Come on Bell, focus on what's different about the Instinct that users might like and stop worrying about Apple.


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## Paradime (Jan 24, 2006)

I was just at a Bell store last night and played around with the Samsung Instinct. I'm no Apple fanboy and not interested in an iPhone at all but the iPhone is light years ahead of the Instinct. There's just no competition. The only chance Bell has is to get a GSM network up and running and cut a year with Apple.


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## Visnaut (Jul 22, 2004)

Bell Ads: Just got lam*er*


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## CdnPhoto (Jan 8, 2006)

I just got back from a Bell store. 
My thoughts:

pressing a button requires multiple attempts
Going to a webpage is slow (CDMA 1x technology)
Yahoo! came back with a message recommending a different browser. You can't browse.
The "haptic" feed back is nothing to write home about. Basically, when you press a button, the phone vibrates. Not as I was led to believe, where you'd feel some feed back at the button.
typing was awful.
the interface was even worse than the typing
Comes with very little memory, but up gradable. The upgrade is very expensive.
did I mention the interface? Yuck.
This device will help sell iPhones. beejacon


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

A lot of ad executives just got rich*er*. Meanwhile Bell just gets poor*er* and stupid*er*.

Bell's new logo goes back to simplicity


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

KMPhotos said:


> I've never liked advertising where one company uses the name of its competitor in the ads. To me it just feels like you are cheapening the product you are trying to sell. It's like saying, hey - sure everyone likes this one product, but why not look at ours. To me it's quite the opposite, If I saw Bell's ad and didn't have an iPhone already, I'd be like - oh what's this Apple product it's trying to compete with. It's pretty much free advertising for Apple. I mean, it's not like you see Coke mentioning Pepsi in its ads.
> Come on Bell, focus on what's different about the Instinct that users might like and stop worrying about Apple.


Wow, you must really hate the "Hi, I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC" commercials.


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

HowEver said:


> Wow, you must really hate the "Hi, I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC" commercials.


I actually do. I thought maybe the first one or two were pretty clever... then I got sick of them and began to despise them.  It's like calling an ugly guy "ugly tub of sh**" ... might be funny once, but it's just too easy, and easy to overdo.


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## spitfire1945 (May 17, 2008)

Ill just wait for the open source Google Android thank you very much.

kthxbye.


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

JumboJones said:


> A lot of ad executives just got rich*er*. Meanwhile Bell just gets poor*er* and stupid*er*.
> 
> Bell's new logo goes back to simplicity


... one of the ugliest logos now in existence. The boob(s) who chose that font should be shot and peed upon. Further proof the design industry is filling with mindless, talentless hacks and slackers... much like the legal industry.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Present company excluded, of course. (Except for the lawyers.)



Mississauga said:


> ... one of the ugliest logos now in existence. The boob(s) who chose that font should be shot and peed upon. Further proof the design industry is filling with mindless, talentless hacks and slackers... much like the legal industry.


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

Mississauga said:


> ... one of the ugliest logos now in existence. The boob(s) who chose that font should be shot and peed upon. Further proof the design industry is filling with mindless, talentless hacks and slackers... much like the legal industry.


Either that or they're letting the customer have too much say on the design. I can see them being yes people for Bell just for the money. 

Bell: "We want to get rid of the most successful ad campaign of ours in years, and replace it with a more boring, generic, corporate look. I was thinking just the word Bell with all the letters touching, like that Dell company, we love their computers. That's it, make us look more like Dell!

Ad Agencies: "Brilliant! We can do that. Now about that retainer...."


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

I wonder if the "Space Invad*er*" caption isn't lost on the under 30 group. How could they understand the reference to gaming?


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Bjornbro said:


> I wonder if the "Space Invad*er*" caption isn't lost on the under 30 group. How could they understand the reference to gaming?


Right on! And I bet they've never heard of Elvis or Mozart, too!

...


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## mpuk (May 24, 2005)

classicbean said:


> I hate everything about this campaign.
> I hate the logo.
> I hate the concept.
> I hate the er - which doesn't even mean anything.
> I hate that I actually miss Frank and Gordon - both of whom I hated.


100% agreed.

I can't believe how many large corporations in Canada have had their corporate identities downgraded with bad graphical redesigns. The agency that worked on the new Bell logo should indeed be proud of the cheque they must have pulled in, but really didn't deliver on the job....absolutely terrible work, mainly since it really doesn't give the impression of a multi-billion dollar tele-communications company anymore. The Apple eater line on top of everything is just pathetic. If you don't want an iPhone, don't buy an iPhone. I want to know who signed off on this childish crap?


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## mpuk (May 24, 2005)

Mississauga said:


> ... one of the ugliest logos now in existence. The boob(s) who chose that font should be shot and peed upon. Further proof the design industry is filling with mindless, talentless hacks and slackers... much like the legal industry.


Exactly. :clap: Along with those that redesigned the Pizza Pizza logo in the 90's, the Pizza Nova logo last year, Holt Renfrew a few years back, the Grand & Toy logo earlier this year....who are these agencies putting this stuff out? Some of these companies had classic, tasteful and creative logos going...for those in TO, think Pizza Pizza on the wall when getting on the on-ramp to the Don Valley Parkway from the Bloor Viaduct...at least there is some reminence of the once great logo they had!


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

I personally don't hate the logo, I like it *A LOT* more than the old one: 










The ad campaign is horrendous however.


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## mpuk (May 24, 2005)

Their logo pre-1990's with just plain old Bell in helvetica or arial was best imo, then came the redesign above, now this. Only getting worse...!


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

slicecom said:


> I personally don't hate the logo, I like it *A LOT* more than the old one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Really? It at least had a concept behind it, even though it got on the swoosh band wagon, you at least have an idea of what the company does. 

The new one does nothing to tell a viewer what the company does, except that it is cramped, uptight and possibly constipated. Hell you could put "Taco" in front of it and it would pass as being a new TacoBell logo. It's just thoughtless period.


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

JumboJones said:


> Really? It at least had a concept behind it, even though it got on the swoosh band wagon, you at least have an idea of what the company does.
> 
> The new one does nothing to tell a viewer what the company does, except that it is cramped, uptight and possibly constipated. Hell you could put "Taco" in front of it and it would pass as being a new TacoBell logo. It's just thoughtless period.


Yeah, really! The head logo looks so 90's, the new one is a little more timeless as it looks like a slightly modified version of the logo they used for decades before the head logo reared its ugly, well... head. 

Also, I'm not sure I agree that the head logo tells me anything about what the company does. They produce yellow swooshes that orbit around people's heads?  What does that have to do with TV, Internet or Phone? :lmao:


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

slicecom said:


> I personally don't hate the logo, I like it *A LOT* more than the old one:


The pictured logo, while admittedly a little "long in the tooth", was a DARNED sight better than the current abomination! With the advent of the new logo, the Bell brand has become a boring word from the dictionary.


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

slicecom said:


> Yeah, really! The head logo looks so 90's, the new one is a little more timeless as it looks like a slightly modified version of the logo they used for decades before the head logo reared its ugly, well... head.
> 
> Also, I'm not sure I agree that the head logo tells me anything about what the company does. They produce yellow swooshes that orbit around people's heads?  What does that have to do with TV, Internet or Phone? :lmao:


You can read this in the RedFlag forums as well but I'll post it here too.

Have you heard of COMMUNICATIONS? It's a communications company, the fact that it goes through the mouth of a genderless face I think is an effective subtle way of telling a viewer exactly what the company is about. The italics mirrors the icon and conveys speed and progress, what Bell should be striving to be as a company.

Going by your logic, WTF exactly does an Apple with a bite out of it have to do with computers? Are they tasty? Can I get one with a side of fries?


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

JumboJones said:


> You can read this in the RedFlag forums as well but I'll post it here too.
> 
> Have you heard of COMMUNICATIONS? It's a communications company, the fact that it goes through the mouth of a genderless face I think is an effective subtle way of telling a viewer exactly what the company is about. The italics mirrors the icon and conveys speed and progress, what Bell should be striving to be as a company.
> 
> Going by your logic, WTF exactly does an Apple with a bite out of it have to do with computers? Are they tasty? Can I get one with a side of fries?


Apple's logo tells me nothing of what the company does either. I never said that it was essential for a companies logo to tell me what they do, you're the one who mentioned that you could tell what Bell did by their old logo. The *vast majority* of logos tell nothing of what the company does. 

I feel in most cases, especially for companies that have been around a century like Bell, it is not necessary for the logo to symbolize what they do. Simple memorable logos are the most effective. 

Think of some of the best and most memorable logos in history, the logo rarely tells you what a company does.


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

slicecom said:


> Apple's logo tells me nothing of what the company does either. I never said that it was essential for a companies logo to tell me what they do, you're the one who mentioned that you could tell what Bell did by their old logo. The *vast majority* of logos tell nothing of what the company does.


But good ones can and do. A logo needs to create a unique identity, and this new one lacks that, it's generic.



slicecom said:


> I feel in most cases, especially for companies that have been around a century like Bell, it is not necessary for the logo to symbolize what they do.


It's that kind of arrogance that got them into their situation in the first place. Truth is Bell is a completely different company than it was 100 years ago, but the new logo time warps them back into the realm of rotary dials and switchboard operators. But hey if you want to appear to be a stagnant company that isn't up with the times then sure.



slicecom said:


> Simple memorable logos are the most effective.


 I agree, but Bell's is just simple, not memorable at all. What do you think about when you see the new logo? You want simple and memorable, have a look at CN or UPS (Paul Rand), both are simple and memorable and hints at what the company does.



slicecom said:


> Think of some of the best and most memorable logos in history, the logo rarely tells you what a company does.


I wouldn't say rarely, I've stated a couple, there are several others, they don't necessarily need to tell you what they do, *but most have a concept*. The new Bell logo is as mindless as their CS department.


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

slicecom said:


> Apple's logo tells me nothing of what the company does either. I never said that it was essential for a companies logo to tell me what they do, you're the one who mentioned that you could tell what Bell did by their old logo. The *vast majority* of logos tell nothing of what the company does.
> 
> I feel in most cases, especially for companies that have been around a century like Bell, it is not necessary for the logo to symbolize what they do. Simple memorable logos are the most effective.
> 
> Think of some of the best and most memorable logos in history, the logo rarely tells you what a company does.


agreed.
Apple's logo is an Apple. that makes more sense I suppose than just a fancy (or not so fancy in this case) font...

Bell should've done a single colour silhouette of a bell. hehe. wait, didnt they have that back in the day?


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

JumboJones said:


> But good ones can and do. A logo needs to create a unique identity, and this new one lacks that, it's generic.
> 
> It's that kind of arrogance that got them into their situation in the first place. Truth is Bell is a completely different company than it was 100 years ago, but the new logo time warps them back into the realm of rotary dials and switchboard operators. But hey if you want to appear to be a stagnant company that isn't up with the times then sure.
> 
> ...


:lmao: I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this logo. At least we can agree that the campaign is laughable.


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## JumboJones (Feb 21, 2001)

jawknee said:


> agreed.
> Apple's logo is an Apple. that makes more sense I suppose than just a fancy (or not so fancy in this case) font...


But see it's a concept and an identity. The word Bell, tightly kerned is not.


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## whatiwant (Feb 21, 2008)

JumboJones said:


> But see it's a concept and an identity. The word Bell, tightly kerned is not.


yes. I was agreeing with you. 
new Bell logo is wank. Plain and simple.
hehe

UNLESS the font is meant to resemble phone cable... it is kind of rounded etc... hehehe


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## zarquon (May 24, 2005)

And here the first thing that it made me thiink of was TBS ?

ok, so the font is a little different, and the letters don't touch - but what is with the half (part) circle as an underline?

There might not be a copy/paste function on the iPhone, but Bell's ad agency has one  .

Z.


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

zarquon said:


> And here the first thing that it made me thiink of was TBS ?
> 
> ok, so the font is a little different, and the letters don't touch - but what is with the half (part) circle as an underline?
> 
> ...


Actually that circle is part of the B from the Bell logo. They have part of that B cut off in all of their ads. Stupid, I know.


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

jawknee said:


> agreed.
> Apple's logo is an Apple. that makes more sense I suppose than just a fancy (or not so fancy in this case) font...
> 
> Bell should've done a single colour silhouette of a bell. hehe. wait, didnt they have that back in the day?


Ah, you see, but it's not just an apple. It's an apple_ with a bite taken out of it_. Think back to your judeo-christian mythological symbols. What does an apple with a bite taken out of it represent? Why, eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge, of course! By inference, Apple users are also risk-takers, living on the edge a little, and unafraid to explore, even if it's forbidden fruit.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

fjnmusic said:


> Ah, you see, but it's not just an apple. It's an apple_ with a bite taken out of it_. Think back to your judeo-christian mythological symbols. What does an apple with a bite taken out of it represent? Why, eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge, of course! By inference, Apple users are also risk-takers, living on the edge a little, and unafraid to explore, even if it's forbidden fruit.


I thought the inference of taking a bite of the Apple is that we're all doomed to suffer for having that knowledge of the tree of life. We'd still be in that innocent state in the garden of Eden--we wouldn't really be human at all. Just saying, is all. The Apple keeps us human.

The Bell logo? Void of meaning. Plain and inconsequential. Bell Gates.


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

HowEver said:


> I thought the inference of taking a bite of the Apple is that we're all doomed to suffer for having that knowledge of the tree of life. We'd still be in that innocent state in the garden of Eden--we wouldn't really be human at all. Just saying, is all. The Apple keeps us human.
> 
> The Bell logo? Void of meaning. Plain and inconsequential. Bell Gates.


We may be doomed to suffer because of the insight we've gained of our own mortality, but we also emerge as the dominant species as a result. Sort of a tradeoff. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I mean, it's nice that Samsung would create the Instinct as a sort of tribute to the superior product it is trying to emulate, or indeed that PC's would adopt the same graphical interface with a mouse that Macs had had for ten years already, but there appears to be only one true innovator so far in the computer industry. Unless you count the Microsoft Surface or Sphere, that is.


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## dwp (Aug 12, 2003)

The fact most people overlook is that Bell is in BIG trouble. Customers are switching their home phone service in droves. Rogers is very aggressive in their marketing and many consumers now are price driven and when they see an opportunity to save money they will. Witness the success of Rogers bundled services. And as much as people hate Rogers they still go for the bundle to save 15%, which is peanuts as far as Rogers is concerned.

I've had three separate bad experiences with Bell's customer service in the last two years and that's why I'm no longer a customer. Bell is desperately grabbing at straws and this latest marketing campaign is proof positive. Instead of running down the competition they should focus their energies on making their company more competitive and offering better services at a price less than the competition.

Frank and Gordon made me long for the days of beaver pelt coats but at least they tried to be positive about the feeble services Bell offered.

My 1.4¢ worth (2¢-15%)


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