Phone giant dumps Becks

Vodafone has ditched the England captain from its latest £4million advertising campaign because it is not sure he will appeal to older customers.

Some are interpreting his absence from the TV and poster adverts as the first sign of 'Becks fatigue'.

The player, who has a £1million contract with the phone company which runs until the end of the year, is being held back to plug text and picture messaging to a younger audience.

There has also been talk of a tug-of-war between Vodafone, which sponsors his old team Manchester United, and phonemaker Siemens, a sponsor of his new team Real Madrid.

With his move to the Spanish club, the publication of his autobiography and the climax to England's Euro 2004 campaign, some feel Vodafone has decided the 28-year-old is simply overexposed.

A new TV campaign does not even carry the Vodafone trademark of modern pop songs but a golden oldie - When I Was Younger by The Faces.

It features a regular fortysomething heading for the paper shop.

On the way, he sees things that remind him of friends and relatives he has not contacted for a long time.

Vodafone's Guy Phillipson said Beckham would return in adverts for the company's Live! service, adding: 'It is a great platform and we use David Beckham almost exclusively for this. He is contracted to make so many ads a year so we are saving him for Vodafone Live!.'