Cell C just pissed off the wrong people, massive banner ad sparks big laughs on Twitter [Update]

One of South Africa’s major telecom firms is starting the weekend on a bad foot. A massive billboard stating that the network operator is “the most useless service provider in SA,” was just put up in Johannesburg.

Needless to say, this opened up a whole can of worms on the twittersphere.

The banner ad makes things personal, publishing Franchise Manager Riaan van Rooyen’s personal contact details. “Cell C’s Riaan van Rooyen, ‘Franchise Manager’, [contact number] says his unnamed executive head refuses to assist the customer!!” it reads.

It’s often said there’s no such thing as bad publicity. We’re contemplating whether that applies to this recent prank slash blunder.

 

Day made :’) RT @AdamJayes: So this is amazing 🙂 #CellC pic.twitter.com/IGr0skTJdv

— Who? Me? (@Lets_Just_J) November 7, 2014

@kagisolegotlo @AKA_Leigh @CellC Whoops. Marketing blunder much? #myogarestaurant — Myoga Restaurant (@MyogaRestaurant) November 7, 2014

Brilliant. We need more ads like this RT @RooiRobot: I had to go see it for myself. Careful who you piss off @CellC pic.twitter.com/28Vo6m0Tkf

— The Alien (@seemeatthezoo) November 7, 2014

 

Let other South African brands take this billboard as an an example on how important monitoring customer service levels are! cell c #cellc — David Tenowitz (@SocialDav) November 7, 2014

The billboard was put up close to Sandton City, Johannesburg which is often referred to as the richest square mile in Africa. As people picked up in the tweets, the telecom certainly pissed off the wrong person.

 

How far must the boundaries of #badservice be pushed before a customer spends (prob) R30k+ to tell the world? #CellC pic.twitter.com/gkrCPopiWV

— Danny Nochumsohn (@Dnoch) November 7, 2014

Lesson learned: Don’t piss off the rich 🙂 #CellC pic.twitter.com/Kdp53TcnJc — Adam Jayes (@AdamJayes) November 7, 2014

Cell C is staying dead quiet online, which just makes this whole situation more awkward, really.

Update: Cell C eventually responded with the following tweet, claiming “there is a dispute between Cell C and the customer responsible for the banner.”

We can confirm that there is a dispute between Cell C and the customer responsible for the banner. We are attempting to resolve the matter.

— Cell C South Africa (@CellC) November 7, 2014