T-Mobile has repeatedly failed to comply with the National Advertising Review Board’s recommendations about its “save 20%” advertising claims after Verizon challenged them multiple times. Despite three attempts to revise the ads, NARB says T-Mobile’s disclaimers still don’t make it clear that the savings include bundled streaming services, not just plan costs.
T-Mobile’s been battling with advertising regulators for months over those “save 20%” claims you’ve seen everywhere. The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) just concluded that T-Mobile failed the National Advertising Review Board compliance. This includes recommendations about how the carrier markets cost savings compared to Verizon and AT&T.
T-Mobile National Advertising Review Board compliance failure
Back in May 2025, Verizon took issue with T-Mobile’s advertising through the National Advertising Division (NAD). The claims showed up in a “Save on Every Plan” brochure and TV commercials like “Top Three Plays of the Day” and “Holidays Are Coming in Hot.” It was even used in press releases and T-Mobile’s website savings calculator. NAD told T-Mobile to stop making specific claims like “Families can switch and save 20% vs. the other big guys plans plus streaming services.”
However, T-Mobile appealed that decision to NARB in August but said they’d comply anyway. The carrier revised their ads, but Verizon wasn’t buying it. In fact, Verizon went as far as requesting a compliance review. They argued that T-Mobile’s new ads still gave the misleading impression that you’d save 20% just by switching plans. NARB agreed with Verizon and recommended T-Mobile discontinue or modify the claims in October. T-Mobile said they’d comply, again.
Third time’s the charm, or maybe not
So T-Mobile tried another revision. This time they tweaked the 20% claim to say “save up to 20%” and added a disclaimer: “By getting built-in benefits they leave out.” Verizon didn’t appear to be too pleased with these “clever” revision, and challenged that version in December. They called it “superficial, cosmetic tweaks.”
According to Verizon, the core problem remained the same. Based on the ads, consumers would still think the savings came from plan costs alone, not from bundled streaming services.
NARB sided with Verizon again. The board said T-Mobile’s disclaimer language wasn’t clear enough to tell consumers that the price comparison included ancillary services beyond basic cellular service. According to NARB, T-Mobile hasn’t made a real effort to comply despite having plenty of time to get it right.
NARB was ready to refer the whole mess to the FTC. But right after sending the compliance decision, T-Mobile told NARB they plan to petition NAD to reopen the case with new evidence to support their T-Mobile advertising claims. Whether that’ll actually resolve the T-Mobile National Advertising Review Board compliance issues is anyone’s guess at this point.
However, Verizon isn’t alone in calling out T-Mobile’s advertising practices. Back in October 2025, AT&T made a similar callout.
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