Verizon is offering, again, its double data promotion, giving users a chance to sign up for 4 GBs of data for $30 and a 10 GB plan for $50. It also plans to offer bundles of data and mobile hotspot functionality. Verizon’s timing, though, is unfortunate in that it was just skewered on Saturday Night Live for its confusing offers.

To be sure, Verizon could easily have been a proxy for all wireless companies that confuse or mislead companies with their offers.  "Leave it to the writers of NBC's Saturday Night Live to sum up the confusion for average customers over 4G and 3G speeds with this hilarious send-up of Verizon advertising," writes The Verge.

Consumers Are Confused

And consumers are confused about 4G—which is not a good situation for marketers. Consumers that think they have 4G service—and many do think that—are more apt to blame a brand’s slow mobile landing page than their service. Many current smartphone owners mistakenly think they already own a 4G phone, a survey by Retrevo Gadgetology Report finds.

Although the Apple iPhone does not offer a 4G version yet, one-third (34%) of iPhone owners say they already have a 4G phone. Similarly, 24% of Blackberry owners think they own a 4G phone, even though Blackberry producer RIM also does not yet offer 4G connectivity. At least some of the 29% of Android owners saying they have a 4G phone could be answering correctly, as Android 4G phones like the HTC Evo 4G or Samsung Infuse 4G have been available for some time.