AT&T Upsets Theater Community With Now-Deleted Tweet

amc ceo actually wants to allow texting in movie theaters theater — wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock

For many theatergoers, using your phone during a performance is the biggest sin any ticket buyer could commit, aside from getting up and making incredibly loud noises. Unfortunately for AT&T, the company didn’t get that memo, as the theater community roasted the national carrier for an interesting tweet that was recently published, reports Playbill.

Now deleted, the tweet shows an image of someone using their phone to watch a football game during a theater performance. “Catch a winning play at the theater,” read the tweet. “Don’t let life get between you and football.” Seeing how AT&T is one of the NFL’s many business relationships, and the first games of the 2015 NFL season were this past week, the timing of the tweet makes sense:

AT&T offered a mea culpa via PhoneArena, saying, “Certainly it’s evident our ads take place in an alternate reality and are not meant to be taken literally. The broad concept of the campaign is that you see content just about anywhere.” Still, the theater community was none too thrilled at the insinuation that you should be on your phone during a performance instead of actually watching the performance you paid for if these tweets are any indication:

so glad @JuliaMurney sent this to me. our industry should let @ATT & @DIRECTV know what we think of their marketing! https://t.co/4h70BeHbFY

— Kate Shindle (@AEAPresident) September 14, 2015

If you love theatre, or are decent human being, tweet to @ATT about how dangerous their marketing is with #NotMyService.

— AnnoyingActorFriend (@Actor_Friend) September 14, 2015

Hey, @att-you forgot to add in the fine print how utterly obnoxious this behavior is. #shameonyou #hereicometmobile https://t.co/6aW9xl1Frr

— Julia Murney (@JuliaMurney) September 14, 2015

Boycott @ATT! This ignorant ad encourages rude, disruptive, against-the-rules behavior at the theatre. https://t.co/bxSNwjTnpM

— Jennifer Tepper (@jenashtep) September 14, 2015

Or stay home because this behavior is against the rules at the theater and totally rude to everyone in the building. https://t.co/dRn29RS1Ha

— Andy Mientus (@andymientus) September 14, 2015

Interestingly, many of these reactions to AT&T’s tweet have since been taken down by their respective Twitter profiles, but the message is loud and clear: There are many who believe that using a phone during a theater performance is rude and obnoxious. Just ask Broadway star Patti LuPone, who snatched a theatergoer’s phone while performing because that person continually used her phone throughout the play.