Second mobile operator MTN has bared its teeth in the marketing war with smaller rival Cell C, filling two pages of SA's most popular Sunday broadsheet with a sarcastic comeback.
This comes 10 days after MTN won a case with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over Cell C's radio ad, which MTN said implied it was "greedy and corrupt with no regard for the interests of its customers".
The ASA ruled Cell C's advertisement in essence communicated to consumers that MTN did not want its call rates to be reduced, that it was trying to stop the reduction of call rates, and that it was doing this by using lawyers that are funded by its customers. Cell C was ordered to withdraw the ad, and not to use it in the aired format again.
Cynical comeback
Despite the success of its complaint on 6 March, MTN used facing pages two and three of the Sunday Times main paper yesterday to put its point across boldly, in black and yellow.
Page two of the newspaper bears just two words: "We're guilty."
Page three follows with a "letter" to Cell C, with alternate sections in bold print as follows:
"Dear Cell C. You are right.
"You said that we are making billions, and that is correct. We are also guilty of investing 83% of those billions, back into South Africa. We're guilty of inventing PayAsYouGo, a world-first product that opened the world of cellular connectivity to South Africans from all walks of life, instead of just the wealthy. We're also guilty of playing a major role in the success of Africa's first World Cup. We're guilty of being a major taxpayer who contributes to the creating of employment for thousands of South Africans. We're guilty of introducing Mahala calls to South Africa, which forced our competitors to cut their prices. We're guilty of not wanting to fight with you, because there are millions of South Africans that we'd rather fight for.
"We believe they deserve better. They deserve a network that works. A network that hardly ever drops their calls. A network that offers access to world-class Internet all across our country.
"A truly South African network that creates lasting infrastructure, investments and even wealth. For everyone.
"P.S. We've never stopped doing what's right for the people of South Africa and we never will. Turn to page 9 to see what we mean."
Page nine consists of another full-page, full-colour advert by MTN, introducing an initiative aimed at "putting a dent in unemployment".
The ad reads: "This initiative gives South Africans the opportunity to make money by reselling airtime. For every amount sold, 5% of the airtime value will be deposited into the Reseller's Mobile Money Account, giving him or her the opportunity to build and sustain a regular source of income."
Continual quarrel
This is not the first time the two operators have been known to lock horns over advertising media.
In January 2011, the ASA found MTN's claims of delivering a "world-class network" and "world-class Internet" were unsubstantiated and ordered the operator to remove such claims from its promotional material.
This came after months of back-and-forth nit-picking between the two, with Cell C being ordered to remove reference to "4Gs" from its network branding in October 2010, and a complaint later that year by MTN, which protested Cell C's claim that its network was the fastest. In the last case, MTN's claim was dismissed.
Then, in July 2012, another marketing war between MTN and Cell C erupted when Cell C made derogatory reference to MTN's products in its "99 Cents For Real" radio campaign.
MTN filed two urgent complaints with the ASA against Cell C for what it believed was disparagement of its Zone and Mahala Thursdays promotions.
Cell C argued the radio ads came after MTN had already launched its own derogatory campaign, apparently heckling Cell C's "Papa's got a brand new..." ad run.