John Legere is getting a taste of his own medicine. The T-Mobile CEO has earned a reputation for being outspoken and combative on his personal Twitter account, but now a rival is taking him to task.
Sprint rolled out this week a splashy new ad campaign with David Beckham hawking its new “All In” wireless plan that’s $80 a month for a new phone and unlimited data. It sounds like a deal, but critics slammed the company for not including taxes in the total price and hiding the fact cost of renting the phone has increased.
Legere took notice:
I give credit to @sprint for swinging the bat when they do – but #allin is a swing and a miss, guys!! #sprintlikehell https://t.co/qDxDoK3BY9
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) July 2, 2015
That tweet riled up Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, which sent him into an explicit rant calling out T-Mobile’s plans:
@JohnLegere I am so tired of your Uncarrier bullshit when you are worse than the other two carriers together. Your cheap misleading lease
— MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) July 2, 2015
@JohnLegere imitation is a joke. You trick people to believe that they have a 15 dollar iphone lease payment when it’s not true. You tell
— MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) July 2, 2015
@JohnLegere them they can upgrade up to 3x but you don’t tell them the price goes up to 27 dollars when they do. You say one thing
— MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) July 2, 2015
@JohnLegere but behave completely different. It’s all a fake show. So its really #Tmobilelikehell
— MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) July 2, 2015
Legere hasn’t yet responded and it would be weird if he didn’t return tweet-fire eventually. In the past, he’s taken on Donald Trump for dissing T-Mobile’s network and slammed AT&T’s data rollover plan.
Yet, this battle is only Claure’s to lose. T-Mobile has posted profits and strong subscriber numbers over the past year and is about to overtake Sprint as the country’s number three mobile carrier. But it shows that Claure isn’t ready give up the fight yet — until Legere gets the final word.
Header image via T-Mobile/Facebook.
More in Marketing
Heineken uses hard numbers to foster better representation in social media ads
Heineken is digging into research looking at how ads featuring people with different skin tones perform across social media platforms.
As AI reshapes search, Zola turns to creators to meet Gen Z where they scroll
Barely two weeks into the role, Briana Severson is already navigating a marketing minefield, where the old playbook is fading fast and the new one is still being written.
The case for and against… agencies making transparency their selling point
Building in public might confer tech credibility on ad agencies, but not everybody wants to know how the sausage gets made.