Social media tweet off: Vodacom to get Cell C a Ben10 watch

It is rare to see multi-billion dollar multinational corporations tease each other in a public forum.

On social media though, anything is possible.

Yesterday, Vodacom, one of South Africa’s big three mobile network operator tweeted Cell C, a fast growing giant in the South African mobile network space, happy birthday.

Vodacom’s tweet read:

Vodacom’s tweet reads like the words of a trusty father proudly marveling at his little boy’s achievements.

Cell C launched in 2001 and piggy-backed off Vodacom’s network towers for a few years before branching on its own.

The offer of a Ben10, a beloved children’s cartoon, watch is a cheeky dig at Cell C’s youth but acknowledging Cell C’s mark on South Africa’s mobile industry.

In response Cell C tweeted:

The two have been engaged in tongue-in-cheek battle in the media for some time now. The battle first started when Cell C flighted a series of adverts taking a dig at Vodacom’s decision to change its corporate colours to those of its parent company Vodafone. Cell C also claimed to be South Africa’s leading mobile operator in the ads. This claim saw the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) uphold an appeal by Vodacom to have the ads pulled.

This little tête-à-tête between the two corporates is quite refreshing and shows that on Twitter anything is possible.