AT&T Wireless Barrages Users with 'Idol' Ad

15.01.2009
It looks like Wireless is in for texting a large percentage of its customers, urging them to watch the season premiere of "," which debuted Tuesday night.

According to a , the wireless carrier sent text messages to a significant percentage of its subscriber base over the past week -- and customer response has been mostly negative. AT&T Wireless is a sponsor of "Idol," and its subscribers can use their phones to vote via text message for their favorite show contestant.

AT&T is defending the text barrage, claiming the messages weren't spam because they were free, and because customers could opt-out of future ads, the Times reports. The ads were sent to frequent texters and to customers who had voted for "Idol" talent in the past, AT&T says.

Not surprisingly, plenty of AT&T Wireless customers weren't thrilled with the "Idol" texts, and many say the unsolicited messages met the very definition of spam. Twitter users, for instance, had for AT&T's marketing barrage.

Wrote brianthawkins:" AT&T is spamming me with text messages about American Idol. Not cool at all."

Brooklahn asked: "Any other AT&T users get spammed last night, despite never having voted on anything involved with American Idol before?"