At the beginning of November, a hashtag #irunmarathon was circulating on social media that was trying to become a trend. According to a catchy picture that accompanied the publication, NBG would pay 0,5 euros for every tweet or share, including the hashtag. The total amount would be given to centre special care for children of the Piraeus Naval Hospital.
Only things are not exactly like that, especially if one reads the terms of the contest.
According to the Terms of the competition, our National Bank would only have 5.000 euros, regardless of whether the tweets and shares containing the hashtag #irunmarathon exceed 10.000! Of course, this is written in the "fine print."
Ethniki's marketing managers seem to have overcome themselves by using hoax methods to present us with a bank that sympathizes, supports and gives the euro to those in need.
The hoax methods we obviously mention are for the first image that promises that with tweets and shares, the Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram social networks, fall into the fund of the Piraeus Nautical Care Center.
However, in order not to be unfair and to blame the National Bank for such unhealthy situations, we should mention that the Terms of the competition also stated:
"The amount of the final amount that the Bank will allocate to the above Organization under the Program is at the discretion and absolute discretion of the Bank."
In the end, the Bank generously allocated 20.000 euros, quadrupling the initial amount, "recognizing the huge response" to the tender. The event is mentioned with a banner on by clicking here
But this does not legitimize the "marketing technique" used by an official body. Of course, if you compare this technique with loan ads on TV during the fat cow season, you won't find any noticeable differences. The first and most prominent message displayed the amount and ease of receipt, and down low on the screen, the second message in the "fine print" ran at the speed of light, listing all the important information.
Anyway, we have to thank Ethniki for its generous sponsorship (4x) and draw the attention of those in charge as the "technique" of promoting the competition is reminiscent of a hoax.
