JEDDAH, 8 October 2006 — Advertising follows us wherever we go — at home, at work, reading e-mails or just browsing the net. The key word in marketing is innovation, figuring out an unconventional way to sell a product and make profits; some companies have even begun using young roller skaters to hand out leaflets to people stopped at traffic lights. Companies have figured out how their advertisements can penetrate the most private areas in our homes, areas which most of our friends and families never see. How do they do it? SMS messages.
The multimillion riyal advertising business in the Kingdom is now using SMS messages; Jeddah residents report an increase of SMS messages — up to as many as 10 a day in some cases — since the beginning of Ramadan.
“It was 5:30 in the morning and I was on the verge of sleep when my SMS alarm went off,” said Zakaria, a Saudi in his early thirties. “I was really annoyed.”
He wondered how companies got his personal number and who gave them permission to send him ads at the crack of dawn.
“It’s an invasion of my privacy,” said Saleh. “With every ring tone, I go and check my cell phone only to find another cheap ad; it’s frustrating,” he said.
A number of complaints have been filed against the offending companies.
In addition to the bother of ads, many people have received messages telling them that they have won a prize and that you have to call a number beginning with “700” — which means that every minute costs SR7.
One message sent to an STC subscriber was “Please enter a three digit number and win SR15,000. This is your winning number. Send it to (a 700 number).” Fahd, a 27-year-old Eastern Province Saudi, said, “This is theft. People need to think before they responded. When you win a prize, the company should call you and not the other way round. And definitely, you should not have to call a 700 number.”
Arab News called the STC 902-service number to inquire about the problem but an employee said there was nothing STC could do to stop the messages. The employee went on to say that he wished he could stop the messages from coming to his personal mobile. He denied that the company distributed subscribers’ numbers to businesses or other organizations. He concluded by saying that on some mobile phones, subscribers can block the advertising messages by entering SMS settings.
