October 12, 2021

A boycott is a royal pain in the ass, and I can't think of anything that's more of a pain in the ass than changing cell phone carriers. But when we find out about AT&T's sweetheart deal with a dangerously anti-democracy media outfit like OAN, well, we should do something. The Lincoln Project's new ad boils it down to the essentials: When your cell phone carrier supports a "news network" that calls for mass executions, maybe you want to switch. Via BoingBoing:

AT&T, the largest communications provider on the planet, not only connects families and friends, it also "helps fund One America News Network," the ad's narrator boasts. "OANN is a streaming channel that hires radical white nationalists as hosts, cheers the Capitol attacks, and promotes Covid-19 conspiracy theories."

The ad lets us in on what we pay for when we sign up for AT&T, including "OANN host Pearson Sharp to call for mass executions," and "funding politicians like Texas governor Greg Abbott, who pushes radical new laws against voting rights and women's rights."

Wrapping up with its tagline, "AT&T, funding sedition, suppression, and of course, One America News Network," the ad parodies AT&T's false altruism to such a tee, I almost missed it on the first view, mistaking it for a real AT&T ad—which it might as well be.

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