WASHINGTON-CellularOne Group, one of the nation’s top mobile-phone service brands, has created a firestorm of controversy by refusing to pull a TV commercial that has offended opponents of capital punishment.
The national Cellular One ad shows a prison guard getting a call and chatting with his wife as an inmate is being led to his death. The prisoner, pale and in shackles, asks, “I don’t suppose that’s the governor calling?”
Adding fuel to the controversy is that CellularOne, whose name and logo are equally owned by SBC Wireless L.L.C. and Western Wireless Corp., is based in Dallas-a city in the state with the highest rate of executions.
While the commercial has been running since June across the country, the outcry has built to a crescendo in recent weeks. CellularOne is used by 42 mobile-phone firms in more than 300 U.S. markets.
Leading the protests is the Indiana Citizens to Abolish Capitol Punishment. The group has been joined by Cure, a prison reform organization, anti-death penalty groups in Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee and others.
Charles Kafoure, president of the Indiana anti-death-penalty group, asked CellularOne and Publicis-USA, the New York-based agency that produced the commercial, to pull the ad by Nov. 20.
“The CellularOne ad featuring the death-row inmate is offensive, and should never have been aired. It outraged many people across the country who protested to CellularOne and Publicis,” said Kafoure.
Brice Campbell, senior principal at New York-based Publicis, e-mailed Kafoure on Nov. 21 to inform him that the commercial was being phased out. Publicis did not return calls for comment.
It is unclear whether Campbell, who said the ad was a daring attempt at social satire, conceded anything to Kafoure, however.
Dick Lyons, president of CellularOne, had a different take on the controversy.
“It’s not been pulled,” said Lyons. He said the death-row spot was one of several running in a rotation that were due by design to be phased out by the end of year.
At the same time, local markets are free to run the death-row ad on their own in 2001, according to CellularOne Marketing Director Kim Smith.
Lyons was unapologetic. “They’re great ads …”It’s not about the death penalty, right or wrong, it’s about getting calls in unusual places.”
