Virgin Media Calls Out BT Billboards with the B*** ***T Van

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.

BT’s billboards, which are currently deployed in Bristol, claim that residents in the area shouldn’t 'settle for Virgin' and instead opt for services provided by the century-old company which started life as a telegraph operator. Virgin Media’s billboard helps to separate B*** ***T from reality given its ultrafast network passes more premises with faster speeds in the city and surrounding areas. 

Virgin Media’s network covers almost 300,000 premises in Bristol with its top packages having an average speed of 516Mbps – significantly faster than BT’s Ultrafast Fibre 250. Virgin Media, through private investment, is also expanding its footprint and rolling out next-generation gigabit speeds (1Gbps) across its entire network of 15 million premises, delivering more than half of the government’s broadband target by the end of 2021. Currently BT’s gigabit ambition is limited to 4 million premises with the possibility of going further under the right conditions.

To kick off the #BornFast stunt, which has been created by RAPP UK, mobile billboards will be placed in front of the BT posters in locations across Bristol, ensuring residents get the message in a fun and humorous way – all in the spirit of clarity and competition. The stunt is also being supported by content on Virgin Media’s social media channels with the potential to bring the billboards to other areas in future.

Al Mackie, chief creative officer, RAPP UK said: “Virgin Media, as all the great Virgin brands, is about disrupting the market and making it better for consumers. While they have the fastest widely-available broadband in the UK they haven’t lost that challenger belief and will stand up to the dubious tactics of the other broadband providers.”

Cilesta Van Doorn, brand and marketing director at Virgin Media 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.”