Thanks for nothing, Vodafone: Egyptians vent anger on Twitter

When Vodafone executives unveiled their latest Egyptian ad campaign, it should have been a cause for celebration.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is a goldmine for advertisers, with families glued to endless TV soap operas as they fast throughout the day.

But not for the first time since Egypt's 25 January uprising, the global telecoms giant seems to have put its foot in it. The campaign has faced a vicious backlash, with many Egyptians taking to the internet in a bid to vent their fury.

The so-called "Thank you" campaign, which was launched across television and the internet in time for the August month of Ramadan, included a gimmick whereby Egyptians were encouraged to send thank you messages to friends and relatives on Twitter, using the hashtag #vodafoneshokran – "thank you Vodafone".

It must have seemed like a great idea on the drawing board. But with many people still angry about Vodafone's conduct during the revolution – when along with other mobile phone companies, it agreed to shut down networks on the orders of the president – some Egyptians have hijacked the campaign, tweeting sneering messages poking fun at the company under the pretext of thanking it.

One message, from a user called @stweeted, said: "Thanks for cutting off communications during the revolution, I was dead worried about my family and friends." Another, from @laScheherazade, said: "Thanks for claiming you inspired the revolution when in fact you caused the death of martyrs by cutting off communication."

The backlash is doubly embarrassing for Vodafone as it follows a similar wave of outrage in June, when Egyptians took umbrageat at an advert created by the company's marketing agency, JWT, which appeared to take credit for the revolution. Egyptian blogger Ramy Raoof said people were still angry with Vodafone because of the way it was perceived to have exploited the revolution. "We all know that if they wanted to support the people they wouldn't have shut off the phones," he said, adding that the company's actions had endangered protesters' lives.

Clive Woodger, a British marketing expert who has worked in the Middle East, said Vodafone had been "naive". He said: "You like to think these companies are global, cool and incredibly sophisticated, but sometimes they're not as clever as they think."

A spokeswoman for Vodafone Egypt said the backlash against the company was "not an issue of our popularity". She emphasised that during the uprising it "had no option but to comply" with the Egyptian government.