Bristol residents may have spotted some rather striking billboards earlier today (January 29).
Virgin Media has launched a campaign taking aim at adverts by broadband rival BT, which they describe as "dubious and unsubstantiated."
The BT adverts, which can be found across Bristol, claim that residents in the city shouldn't "settle for Virgin".
In retaliation, Virgin Media has parked bright red, mobile billboards with the word 'B******T' on the side next to BT's adverts.
Cilesta Van Doorn, brand and marketing director at Virgin Media, said the cheeky move highlights the strength of Virgin Media's network in comparison to BT.
She said: “BT’s broadband bunkum just couldn’t go unchecked.
"Residents of Bristol won’t be fooled by BT’s babble and we look forward to welcoming anyone who wants to experience life in the fast lane with our superior ultrafast speeds.
"With a reliable future-proof network that is bringing gigabit speeds to Bristol and more of the UK, Virgin Media is, as always, leading the charge – catch us if you can.”
A spokesperson for Virgin Media continued: "Virgin Media has today called out BT’s dubious, unsubstantiated advertising with a cheeky and provocative stunt that highlights the strength of Virgin Media’s network and its continued speed superiority over the UK’s telecoms incumbent.
"The billboard helps to separate B******T from reality given its ultrafast network passes more premises with faster speeds in the city and surrounding areas."
BT has responded by insisting their adverts are accurate and their service is more reliable compared to Virgin Media's.
“Fast speeds only count if they’re reliable, which is why our new Full Fibre broadband is a great choice for customers in Bristol who want ultrafast fibre broadband they can count on," a BT spokesperson said.
"We’re also more reliable for service - we’ve just met our commitment to answer 100% of our customer calls in the UK & Ireland, have brought BT back to the high street and have even launched a team of 900 Home Tech experts across the UK to help customers in their own home, ensuring customers can always get help from us wherever and whenever they need it.”
