by Paul Jay, CBCNews.ca

Yesterday I noted that Koodo's latest ad campaign includes a jingle calling fixed-term contracts "sleazy" and wondered at the inconsistency of the message, given that Koodo parent Telus (and many other wireless carriers) have such contracts.

Today I had a chance to talk to Chief Koodo Officer Kevin Banderk about the ads. Here is his response:

"It's really just about speaking differently to the wireless audience. I think given the context of the carols you wanted words that would pop out and grab people's attention, so it's more to do with grabbing people's attention than it is to try to denegrate any of our competitors.

I think that our view here is we offer a smart alternative to the other wireless competitors. There is value to fixed-term contracts, they offer things we can't - you'll never see a zero dollar Blackberry Pearl from us because we just can't afford it without doing that kind of three-year fixed term kind of thing. So there is value to it, for those people who don't mind being locked in.

But we also know there is a large segment of the population who wants more transparency and flexibility and they tend to just focus more on the talk and text, that's the audience we're seeking and really trying to reach and you know I think that's the approach we're taking.

So you know, if I was using it in everyday conversation I'd never use the term sleazy or the company would never use the term sleazy, but I think given the context of the Christmas carol you clearly want words that pop out and go - wait, that's not a normal Christmas song, what's going on here? - and so they listen.

That's the approach. I don't think here we have any belief that there is anything really being done by any of the other carriers to trick or to be sleazy but we just want people to be very aware that there are alternatives to what all the big guys offer."

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