SMS is a convenient and cheap means of advertising. Its direct to the targeted
audience, highly likely to be read and if crafted well, sure to catch the
attention of the mobile phone user. SMS ads also cost less than making cold
calls to sell products. Many department stores, hotels and other service
providers take the mobile numbers of their customers and send them SMS them
about upcoming sales and promotions. Other companies buy lists of mobile
numbers - either from a telecommunications firm or from a data list provider.
Many people are surprised when they receive promotional messages on their
mobiles although they are not the customers of this company. Many simply delete
the invasive SMS. But sometimes, this type of advertising can go too far. For
an Arab Muslim country, pornographic messages or other services advertising
sexual products are unacceptable.
Some of those who called 'Muneera' ended up with a KD 50 charge on their phone
bill, this reporter has learned. Many others simply saw the SMS as offensive.
"I'm married, and I'm not interested in such services or messages. I called the
customer service department of the mobile provider, and complained. They
promised they will work on banning such messages. I really didn't receive any
more messages from this number, thus the customer service department didn't
follow-up with me to see if I still do receive such messages or not," said 42
year old Kuwait resident Waleed.
Adults can suspect such weird and just delete them when receive. But what
happens when a teen or even younger kids receive such messages?
According to a local telecommunications provider, the messages are being sent
randomly. A customer service representative for the firm said "These swindlers
are simply calling randomly any numbers. They know the international code, and
then they only choose seven numbers randomly," the employee said. "We are
working on this subject, and we hope we may definitely ban these messages from
reaching our subscribers."
