Norway lost the match, but won the internet with airline Instagram bet

Football banter took a very clever marketing turn when Norwegian Air made good on a viral Instagram bet with British Airways after Norway’s World Cup match exit.

How the social media wager began

Days before Norway faced England in the quarter-final, Norwegian air tagged British Airways on Instagram with a cheeky proposal, whichever nation lost would swap its profile picture to the winner’s logo for a day. British Airways caught wind of the proposition and responded, “Don’t make bets you can’t win,” before confirming its social media team had agreed to the challenge. Millions followed the exchange as other carriers joined in with jokes of their own.

Norway’s World Cup run ends in extra time

England beat Norway 2-1 in extra time ending what had been the Scandinavian side’s deepest World Cup campaign. Norway had reached the quarter-finals for the first time in a whopping 28 years, led by Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, having stunned Brazil 2-1 in the round of 16 thanks to two goals from Haaland.

Norwegian Air honours the bet with grace

True to its word, Norwegian changed its Instagram profile picture to the British Airways logo following the defeat. Its caption read: “While the tournament is over for us, this friendly bet will forever live in all our hearts,” with the airline wishing England and British Airways luck in the semi-final.

British Airways responded warmly rather than gloating. Its own post carried the caption “Rivals for 90 minutes, friends forever,” thanking Norwegian for the challenge and congratulating England on reaching the semi-finals.

A big win for marketing despite the sporting loss

Fans praised Norwegian’s good humour throughout the social media challenge. One commenter joked that “turbulence was on the pitch, but the logo change is the real emergency landing,” while another admitted watching “British Airways vs Norwegian” more closely than the actual match.