Dish Network’s Sling TV today released its first set of national television ads which portray traditional cable companies as “Old TV” who bully you into paying for the 100+ channels you didn’t want.
“Old TV,” symbolized by a bunch of mean, white kids who beat customers into submission, represents the ways companies have forced people to commit to annual contracts, while making them pay additional fees for equipment rentals, taxes and more. Sling’s subscription offers upward of 20 live channels for a flat rate of $20 a month, which is cancelable at any time.
It’s a drastically different route than the ones taken by its competitors, particularly HBO Now. In HBO’s case, its ad touted the features cord cutters have always wanted without the pain of a cable TV subscription.
When Sling was first announced at CES 2015, Dish emphasized its target market of millennials. Today’s ad proves that it’s now aiming to expand to traditional families who are tired of the “old” TV model.
Your guess on why Dish chose to use white kids as the aggressor is as good as mine; maybe it’s a statement on how white, gingery kids are mean as hell, or Dish just simply forgot that actors of color also seek employment.
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➤ Sling TV Unveils First National Advertising Campaign [Business Wire]
Read next: Comcast launches a new streaming TV service to take on Sling TV
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