Norway lost the match. But Norwegian Air may have won the internet.
A few days before Norway faced England in the World Cup quarterfinal, Norwegian tagged British Airways on Instagram with a simple challenge: if Norway lost, it would switch its profile picture to the British Airways logo for a day. If England lost, British Airways would do the same.
The bet, dreamed up by Norwegian's social media team, quickly escaped airline Instagram and spread across the internet, with other carriers jumping into the comments and millions of people following along.
After England beat Norway 2-1 in extra time Saturday in Miami, Norwegian followed through and changed its Instagram profile picture to the British Airways logo.
The airline also posted a clean white graphic with the British Airways logo and the message: "It's coming home" and "Well played, England & British Airways."
In the caption, Norwegian wrote, "While the tournament is over for us, this friendly bet will forever live in all our hearts," before wishing England and British Airways the best in the semifinal.
It was a fitting ending to one of the World Cup's most unexpectedly popular off-field stories.
British Airways won the bet, but Norwegian won the respect
British Airways did not let the moment pass quietly.
After England's win, the airline posted its own carousel with the caption, "Rivals for 90 minutes, friends forever," thanking Norwegian for the challenge and congratulating England on qualifying for the semifinals.
Norwegian could have gone quiet after the final whistle. Instead, it changed its Instagram profile picture to the British Airways logo, posted a congratulatory graphic and then showed up in the British Airways comments like a team that had genuinely enjoyed the whole thing.
"Thank you for a great match and a REALLY fun few days!" Norwegian wrote, adding that it was "forever thankful" British Airways had been "cool enough" to accept the bet. Then the airline took it one step further: "Let's make this friendship grow even bigger. This social media team would LOVE to visit your home!"
It was funny because Norwegian did not act embarrassed by the loss. It honored the bet, congratulated England and somehow made changing its logo to another airline's branding feel like part of the fun instead of a punishment.
The comments noticed.
Wonderful Indonesia wrote, "Turbulence was on the pitch, but the logo change is the real emergency landing." Another commenter called it the "marketing World Cup," adding that the pressure was now on British Airways to "bring it home." Another summed up the subplot perfectly: "I wasn't watching England vs Norway. I was watching British Airways vs Norwegian."
