Which sounds real to you?

"Hey dude, I just came back from seeing The Vandals play at the 2008 Vans Warped Tour sponsored by AT&T! It totally rocked! Yeah!" (Does that rock-n-roll, surfer-hand-signal, tongue-sticking-out thing.)

"Hey dude, I just came back from seeing The Vandals play, and I got so drunk that I lost my shoe! Yeah!" (Vomits on remaining shoe.)

People won't even equate the show they've just seen with Vans, the founders of the tour and longtime presenting sponsors. Yet, AT&T will now be entering its fourth year atop the Warped Tour sponsor banner. The telco giant has also signed on for an additional mini-acoustic tour.

What is the connection between AT&T and the kids' music and skating sneakers (Vans)? If AT&T wants to get into the sound biz—not a bad idea for a company that can claim a history of audio fidelity—why not build its own media? Given the possibility of doing so, this begs a larger question: How does this get the one-shoe vomiter to buy an AT&T phone plan?