Some AT&T Wireless customers have voted an emphatic no on a promotion for “American Idol” that popped up on their phones this week.

AT&T, a sponsor of the show, said it sent text messages to a “significant number” of its 75 million customers, urging them to tune in to the season premiere on Tuesday night.

But some recipients thought the message was a breach of cellphone etiquette, and gave it the kind of reaction that the “Idol” judge Simon Cowell might give an off-key crooner.

The online service Twitter had a steady stream of complaints. “AT&T just sent me a text message advertisement about ‘American Idol.’ Evil,” a Twitter user named Joe Brockmeier wrote on Tuesday. “The economic downturn definitely means a spam upswing.”