DirecTV Told to Pull Rob Lowe Ads

The request comes after Comcast files complaint.

Story by Matt Cummings

The series of DirecTV ads featuring Actor Rob Lowe has hit almost every nerve in America's underground culture: the hairy guy community, the shy bladder community, the meathead community. And now they and the Overly-Paranoid and Creepy Guy communities have joined forces to shut down those commercials. Actually, it's the cable company Comcast that's filed the complaint, and an advertising trade group apparently agrees with them.

According to Variety.com, The Council of Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division (COBBBNAD) said DirecTV should stop airing the commercials because they're making certain inaccurate complaints about their service. Among those claims which Comcast says are false is DirecTV's statement that, “With DirecTV you get 99% signal reliability” and that customers would benefit from the "best picture quality and sound” if they subscribed to their service.

And while DirecTV did respond to the request, it appears that the matter is academic at this point, because the company has ended the commercials with Rob Lowe as previously planned. “The Rob Lowe campaign was always scheduled to end at the end of Q1 — we wanted to launch our new campaign with Hannah Davis in the (NCAA men’s basketball) Final Four,” said Jon Gieselman, DirecTV SVP of marketing and advertising.

It's unclear whether Comcast was filing on its own behalf or on those of the Scrawny Arm Community and Super Creepy communities. For now, enjoy one of the seven commercials featuring Lowe in his various characters:

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