Cyrus Dugger

What Is That Weird Lawyer Ad About?

What is that weird lawyer ad with the guy pointing at me about?

For weeks now I have been planning to figure out - what is this weird ad with the lawyer on all the liberal blogs about? Well, the Wall Street Journal beat me to the punch (click here for full article).

Basically this add is a spoof by a phone company (Alltell) to generate "buzz" about the compnay by discussing a satirical lawsuit against it.

While this is likely not the smartest ad campaign, the fact that being sued is used as a publicity stunt speaks to a perception of the public's negative reaction to lawyers and lawsuits.

The add satirically describes the lawyer involved in the suit as having dedicated his legal career to satire suits like:

Increasing national standards for elasticity in gentlemen's dress socks by almost 17%.

Fighting for lick-less postage stamps.

Suing his doctor for his "innie" belly button

In a nutshell, this add is an attempt to gain attention by satirizing the legal community and lawsuits.

Although this add - just seems stupid, it message feeds into a larger movement by some corporate interests to make you devalue your right to go to court to hold corporations accountable for very real acts of misconduct.

If the add annoys you - visit it - it will cost Alltell money - just don't sign up for their sevice afterwards.

If you or your organization is interested in learning more about or working on these types of civil justice issues, please feel free to contact me at cdugger@drummajorinstitute.org.

Cyrus Dugger
Senior Fellow in Civil Justice
Drum Major Institute for Public Policy

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Posted at 10:31 AM, Aug 07, 2006 in Civil Justice
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