There are a few visuals that most people could easily tie to AT&T: the colors orange and blue or the blue and white striped globe. When you visit their website these visuals are present, helping to solidify a consistent visual "theme" for the brand. The funny commercials with the man in a suit talking with little kids also incorporates these visuals, typically at the end of the commercial, but they are still present. Obviously, AT&T print ads would contain these visual themes as well, but in a medium like print there or more restrictions on how you can grab AND hold somebody's attention. Listening to a humorous comment is different than reading one, watching a screen with moving images is different than staring at one piece of still paper.
With their most recent print ad however, AT&T created an intriguing piece of visual communications that informs the viewer via the visual. The visual isn't just used to grab your attention, with the text slapped arbitrarily on the page. The image makes the point without needing too much additional text.
The phones are black which contrasts with the tinted colored back grounds; the gradient on the background which fades as it moves to the center also helps draw your eyes to the phone or phones. The text is very simple and does not overcrowd the focal image. The curved orange band on the bottom of the page not only helps to identify this ad as an AT&T ad, but kind of holds up the image and frames it so your eyes don't wonder away before you absorb the image.
