CAIRO: An endless rant was sparked on social media regarding the ‘purplish’ colored-bus set to transport Egypt’s national team during the FIFA World Cup.
The bus design was released on social media by Presentation Sports but Egyptians didn’t take it quite well.
The purplish color, which belongs to the logo of the team’s official sponsoring telecom company, sparked a series of sarcastic comments by users who said they hated the choice which — to say the least-- have no connection to the country’s flag!
Some Twitter users said the bus’ colors and its “irrelevant design” do not reflect the Egyptian identity.
Several comments described the design as inspired by a sanitary pads company that bears the same purplish-pink color.
“Is this a bus or a pack of #Always pads?” one user wrote.
Another compared the design of the bus to that of the German squad.
“A lesson in creativity, the German national team’s bus is inspired by Mercedes Benz’s slogan ‘the best or nothing’ combined with the Mannschaft’s colors, the best team in the world. While in Egypt, the bus design is inspired by Always pads,” one user wrote on Twitter.
The outcry prompted other Egyptian designers to stand up and share a redesign of the bus that is relevant to the country.
Designer Tarek Abdullah shared on his Facebook his suggested bus design using the colors of the Egyptian flag, and hieroglyphic letters and symbols from Ancient Egypt inscribed on it.
The airplane designed as the team’s national carrier to the World Cup also sparked a debate when it was revealed a few months ago.
Not only for featuring the logo of the team’s official sponsor, WE telecommunications, next to the image of Liverpool striker Mohammad Salah, who is already the face of rival telecom company Vodafone.
But also because the purplish-pink color was quite dominant on the plane — which did not impress Egyptians much.
