Norwegian Air Changes Instagram Logo to British Airways After Losing Viral World Cup Bet

The friendly wager kicked off on July 8, when Norwegian Air challenged British Airways to a logo bet on Instagram. "Hey @british_airways, do you wanna make a bet? If Norway wins, you have to switch to our logo on Instagram on Sunday. And vice versa. Deal?" the Scandinavian carrier posted, ahead of the World Cup quarterfinal clash between Norway and England . British Airways initially fired back, "Don't make bets you can't win," before formally accepting with, "Challenge accepted."

The stakes were simple. Whichever airline's national team lost the match would swap its Instagram profile picture to its rival's logo for a full day. What began as harmless banter between two airline social media teams quickly snowballed, drawing in other carriers and millions of viewers across the platform.

On the pitch, Norway struck first through Andreas Schjelderup in the 36th minute, but England hit back through Jude Bellingham , who equalised in first half stoppage time before netting the winner early in extra time. England ultimately triumphed 2-1 , sealing their place in the FIFA World Cup semi finals and, with it, victory in the airline wager.

True to its word, Norwegian Air honoured the bet and swapped its profile picture for British Airways' Speedmarque logo . The airline posted a clean graphic reading "It's coming home" alongside the message, "Well played, England & British Airways," adding in the caption, "While the tournament is over for us, this friendly bet will forever live in all our hearts."

British Airways responded graciously with its own carousel post captioned "Rivals for 90 minutes, friends forever," thanking Norwegian for the challenge. Even Malaysia Airlines joined the fun, commenting, "Respect to @flynorwegian! Most airlines need six months and 14 approvals to change a logo."

A Norwegian spokesperson, Eivind Hammer Myhre , told Business Insider the campaign was dreamed up entirely by the airline's own social media team, and that British Airways had been great sports throughout. The lighthearted exchange has now become one of the tournament's most talked about off field moments , proving that clever brand marketing can capture as much attention as the football itself.