A new video popped into my inbox. It was from AT&T. It is called Your Personal Video Bill. It opens with a warm welcome:
And the journey begins. I am taken on an audio-visual trip of what I owe this month, starting with Bill at a Glance. It moves along to highlight my previous balance, as the narrator soothingly points out the new balance I have to fork over to stay connected to the digital universe.
The next scene focuses on my Monthly Charges, and the breakdown for voice, data, and messaging services all brightly presented in varying hues of magenta, blue and yellow. Bouncing balloons appear and disappear in the background.
Next up are Plan Changes and a Summary of all that has gone before. It’s the cozier way of being hit with a bill to pay. And for the finale, a little free advertising to keep me enticed by the AT&T family. Just click and I may be able to lower my bill.
Does AT&T care that I have no interest in a multimedia presentation of my bill? Ha. Ha. Ha.
The idea of the old fashioned email may have been staid, but it was oh so efficient and cheap. Open and close. Now I am an unwilling viewer of a 2 minute 17 second segment about my expenditures with AT&T. Given the banality of the content, and no doubt the significant amount of money that was invested to create these individual video bills, it strikes me as an unnecessary waste of advertising dollars. Doesn’t that ultimately translate into less dividends being paid to their stockholders? Hmmm, just wondering. (Of course at the moment they are also being sued for their false advertiising claims about “unlimited” data plans. It seems like AT&T needs to eject the head of advertising.)
The Write Side of 59 