Cingular is now AT&T

This is bothersome because Cingular, in my mind, has a far better reputation than AT&T. But it’s true, as I first learned when I watched Apple’s announcement of the iPhone. It’s a great keynote, by the way. I recommend watching the iPhone part. It’s really enjoyable.

So AT&T kicked off a new campaign Monday, including ads which show the Cingular “Raising the bar” tagline morphing into an AT&T globe. They actually plan to phase out the Cingular brand entirely. Read more, or watch this great video on YouTube.

Basically, “a few years ago, AT&T spun off AT&T Wireless, which Cingular purchased. SBC (which owned part of Cingular) bought AT&T, and changed its name to AT&T. Then the new AT&T bought BellSouth (which owned the rest of Cingular), and that’s how it happened.”