AT&T; Appears Eager to Call Up a New Image : Marketing: New ad campaign will seek to reach the MTV generation, with Cliff Robertson nowhere to be seen.

Has AT&T; hung up on longtime spokesman Cliff Robertson?

The company says no, but its recent actions say otherwise.

An AT&T; corporate campaign to begin airing April 26 features the voice of actor Tom Selleck off-camera. Dick Cavett and Rodney Dangerfield are also in some AT&T; radio spots, but these days Robertson, 67, is nowhere to be heard. His voice hasn’t been in any AT&T; ads this year. And his face hasn’t been spotted in an AT&T; commercial in at least three years.

Behind AT&T;’s move to re-evaluate its celebrities is a new desire to reach the MTV generation. Many of today’s younger consumers know Pat Robertson better than Cliff Robertson. While rival Sprint was quick to latch on to “Murphy Brown” star Candice Bergen as its spokeswoman, AT&T; has been slow to change directions. It now appears ready to make a move.

“I think Cliff Robertson is a great guy. But this is a new campaign and we’re moving right along with the future,” said Linda Urben, corporate ad manager at AT&T;, which next week is to begin airing ads that try to reposition AT&T; as an ultra-high-tech company. The ads will show contemporary images, like a guy who receives a fax at the beach.

Robertson, however, remains under contract to AT&T;, said Bill Higgins, advertising manager for AT&T;’s consumer communications business unit in Basking Ridge, N.J.

In fact, Robertson is the only celebrity ever to appear on camera as an AT&T; corporate spokesman, he said. “He’s viewed as Mr. AT&T;,” Higgins said. “Many people think AT&T; and Cliff Robertson are synonymous.”

But many people also associate Robertson with the past, said Gerri Shaftel, vice president at Woodland Hills-based Celebrity Endorsement Network.

“Cliff Robertson is not perceived as current,” Shaftel said, “and AT&T; is clearly trying to do something about that.”

Robertson was not available; his spokesman at International Creative Management declined to comment.

AT&T; brought in Robertson as its spokesman nearly eight years ago--shortly after the phone companies were deregulated in 1984. AT&T; was a little-known brand name at the time, and it wanted someone who would give it instant credibility.

What better choice than the actor who had played John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film “PT-109”?

In an interview with the Times in 1992, Robertson said he was shocked that AT&T; had selected him.

“To this day,” he said, “I don’t know why they chose me.”