It’s rare to see airlines having this much fun on social media nowadays (well, aside from Ryanair roasting its customers), so huge credit to British Airways and Norwegian Air Shuttle for their World Cup rivalry, and for following through on their promises…
In this post:
British Airways & Norwegian make fun World Cup bet
Yesterday, England played against Norway in the World Cup quarterfinals, and as you’d expect, fans on both sides were excited. Airlines tend to get active on social media with supporting “their” team, for obvious reasons, and that was true here as well.
British Airways was of course supporting England, while Norwegian Air Shuttle was supporting Norway. The two airline brands had a healthy dose of trash talking on social media, which ultimately resulted in a fun bet. The airline associated with the losing team would have to change its logo on social media to that of the airline associated with the winning team, for a period of 24 hours.
They really went all-out with this, including a Norwegian employee flying to London so that they could shake hands on the bet, and exchange USB thumb drives containing the logo of the other airline. The two companies had a joint post on social media.
Separately, Norwegian posted a behind the scenes video of the employee flying to British Airways’ headquarters for that exchange to happen.
Meanwhile British Airways posted a video delivering a note on a flight to Oslo, which read “IT’S COMING HOME!”
British Airways wins, Norwegian follows through on promise
England ended up beating Norway yesterday, and Norwegian has indeed followed through on its promise. If you go to the carrier’s Instagram page, you’ll see that it has the British Airways logo, and that’s expected to stay up for 24 hours.
Seriously, in a world full of lawyers and erring on the side of caution, how cool to see two companies have this much fun. And as you can see, this is great marketing, based on the amount of attention it’s getting.
Norwegian is also directly trying to (smartly) profit off of this, offering discounted tickets to anyone who wants to travel to a Norwegian destination. As the airline wrote on social media, “since we lost yesterday’s bet we’re offering a flash sale on all Norwenglish destinations.” Hah.
Bottom line
British Airways and Norwegian Air Shuttle had some fun on social media, given the World Cup match that took place yesterday between England and Norway. The two airlines agreed that the losing team would have to change its logo on social media to that of the winning team for a period of 24 hours. England won, and Norwegian followed through on its promise. Well played by both parties!
What do you make of this British Airways and Norwegian rivalry?
This story has restored my faith in humanity - a small but significant lesson in diplomacy and humour. World leaders please take note!
There are only four matches left. I don't know what I'm going to do with my life once it's all over. It's been so much fun!
As wholesome as it gets.
This is great. Authentic, not overproduced, clearly bottom up, but intelligent social media content. Well done BA/Norweigan
Knowing BA, their lawyers will now turn around and sue Norwegian for using their logo.
Remember how the Norwegian men’s national soccer team brought its own food to the 2026 World Cup because it doesn’t trust the quality of food in the US? (Sorry, I'm being told that's 'fake' news, and the 'alternative' facts are that they would all die if they don't eat Norwegian salmon, aka, they did this 'to maintain consistency in players’ diets and provide a taste of home.')
As a chef working in the US, their caution was more than justified. Good luck getting what you want on time these days, regardless of which monopoly foodservice provider you choose.
Timtamtrak, I'm 100% with you on the topic; however, on form (not to be a grammar fascist, but...), I think you may have inadvertently created a 'dangling modifier.' Like, if *you* are the chef working in the US, you meant to say, 'As a chef working in the US, I feel that their caution...' Or, if you meant to say the entire Norwegian soccer team are chefs working in the US, 'As chefs working in...
Timtamtrak, I'm 100% with you on the topic; however, on form (not to be a grammar fascist, but...), I think you may have inadvertently created a 'dangling modifier.' Like, if *you* are the chef working in the US, you meant to say, 'As a chef working in the US, I feel that their caution...' Or, if you meant to say the entire Norwegian soccer team are chefs working in the US, 'As chefs working in the US, they felt...' (though I find the latter situation highly unlikely). Teehee. *Roman salute to grammar correctness*
Ah, yes, fair enough - I am the chef I was referring to, although I’d be more than happy to sample the offerings if the Norwegian soccer team decided to whip me up some salmon. :P
Me too. Yum!!
The beardy guy with the tea cup looks suspiciously beardy . The Norwegian player with the top-knot also looks suspicious . Beards and top-knots do not make champions .
And where does Thorbjorn Topknot, known to the rest of the world as Erling Haaland, play his pro ball? He's only one of the world's greatest strikers. Respect him.
Great striker - born in Leeds, England!
Haaland is the winner of the English Premier League's Golden Boot three out of the last four years. And his father was a strong member of the Leeds team.