AT&T ad congratulating itself for its ethics violated an ad-industry rule

NAD: Our rulings can’t be used in ads

Violating a National Advertising Division rule isn’t the same as violating a US law. But advertisers rely extensively on the self-regulatory system to handle disputes and determine whether specific ads are misleading and should be pulled.

Companies generally abide by the self-regulatory body’s rulings. While they try to massage the truth in ways that favor their own brands, they want to have some credibility left over to bring complaints…