Uploaded December 2010 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Another 1-800-CALLATT commercial. Oft spokesman David Arquette dons a blue chalk mustache and shows how suave he can be by pitching the value of calling collect with 1-800-CALLATT to a woman in a phone booth in a pool hall.
Arquette made a lot of 1-800-CALLATT commercials and got a lot of airtime. Most of them were more frenetic than this, this was likely made as a counterpoint to the style that people had become used to.
Long distance was big business in the 80s and 90s, with the battle lines drawn first by trying to get people to switch carriers, then by offering "dial around" (10-10) services for cheap calls and finally by offering 1-800 access and other 10-10 services targeting specific portions of the market. 1-800-COLLECT hit gold and then collect calling became a major focus of advertising, even though collect calling had been a rarity and near curiosity for most customers.
The long distance industry had been a huge source of ad revenue for TV stations right up there with beer companies but shortly after this, all the angles had been played out and long distance became a low margin industry with little money or reason to advertise. Big long distance finally succumbed to nationwide free long distance (and free roaming) plans on cell phones starting with Sprint PCS' service in1995.
Far from a big business, long distance is now a cheap or free service thrown in as a kicker to all-in-one voice plans.
This 30 second spot aired in 1999 during a showing of the Monaco GP.
Another 1-800-CALLATT commercial. Oft spokesman David Arquette dons a blue chalk mustache and shows how suave he can be by pitching the value of calling collect with 1-800-CALLATT to a woman in a phone booth in a pool hall.
Arquette made a lot of 1-800-CALLATT commercials and got a lot of airtime. Most of them were more frenetic than this, this was likely made as a counterpoint to the style that people had become used to.
Long distance was big business in the 80s and 90s, with the battle lines drawn first by trying to get people to switch carriers, then by offering "dial around" (10-10) services for cheap calls and finally by offering 1-800 access and other 10-10 services targeting specific portions of the market. 1-800-COLLECT hit gold and then collect calling became a major focus of advertising, even though collect calling had been a rarity and near curiosity for most customers.
The long distance industry had been a huge source of ad revenue for TV stations right up there with beer companies but shortly after this, all the angles had been played out and long distance became a low margin industry with little money or reason to advertise. Big long distance finally succumbed to nationwide free long distance (and free roaming) plans on cell phones starting with Sprint PCS' service in1995.
Far from a big business, long distance is now a cheap or free service thrown in as a kicker to all-in-one voice plans.
This 30 second spot aired in 1999 during a showing of the Monaco GP.
