The commercial competition between the two companies "VIVA", which recently entered the Bahraini telecommunications market, and "Batelco" sparked a war in the forms of flags (banners) that are colored by advertisements and brochures issued by them. Before... Rather, the line between commercial offer and national affiliation became thin and hidden, and both companies spared no effort and creativity but used it to activate sales and gain the loyalty of mobile phone and Internet users.
The campaign began with an offer from “Viva” through a girl holding a flag colored in the company’s colors and written on it, “3 wonderful offers for 3 months,” in reference to the free offer of calls and texts between Viva subscribers, free calls with Saudi Telecom, and discounts of about 90% on international calls.
Batelco responded with an advertisement for a young man wearing traditional Gulf clothes and carrying the Bahrain flag, with the phrase “Some raise their flags. Some only raise the flag of the nation.” This is a clear indication and a direct response to the flag displayed by FIFA in its advertisements.
Batelco said in a special brochure that its services compete with what is available at Viva, but each page of the brochure was appended with a sentence that pours more oil on the fire burning between the two parties... Among those sentences are “Banners that come and go, and banners that remain forever.” “For a poem that rises the flag of the nation,” “what hearts carry, hands carry.”
FIFA has kept its campaign as is, using other slogans such as “Speak More. Save more,” and “Unbelievable speed.”
