WhatsApp made a change this year that means you can no longer send a Ferrari emoji in the app. Here’s why!
WhatsApp closes deal with Mercedes
Do you regularly send emojis on WhatsApp? And are you a Formula 1 fan? Then you have probably noticed that you cannot send a red sports car when you choose an emoji on WhatsApp. It is possible to search for the Ferrari emoji when you send a message on WhatsApp, but as soon as you send the message, the emoji is changed. A black Mercedes sports car appears.
Also read: Formula 1: here’s where you can watch this season cheaply
This is of course no coincidence, because WhatsApp has been working with Mercedes since the end of 2023. It is the first time that WhatsApp has collaborated with a sports brand. Part of the sponsorship deal is that the racing car is changed to a Mercedes car in WhatsApp. It is therefore no longer possible to send a ‘normal’ red Ferrari. That is not all, because you see the collaboration in many more ways.
Mercedes active in canals
In addition to the black and blue colors of the race car in WhatsApp, the sponsorship deal is also visible at Formula 1 itself. The logo of the chat service can be seen at Mercedes during Formula 1 races. WhatsApp also uses the collaboration to bring Channels more to the attention of users. Via Channels, companies can communicate with large groups of people by sending messages in the channel.
Users can only respond to the messages themselves with emojis, but cannot send any further replies. Mercedes F1 started using Channels last September and has now gained more than six million followers. This is not surprising, because as part of the partnership, Mercedes posts exclusive content on WhatsApp. To see the content, users have to follow the car brand’s channel.
First sponsored emoji
On WhatsApp it is no longer possible to send the red Ferrari car. The Mercedes race car is the first sponsored emoji on WhatsApp ever. It is quite possible that similar deals will be closed with other brands in the future, because WhatsApp has been looking for new ways of income for some time. The mega deal with Mercedes is a good example of this.
Also read: Apple wants to buy Formula 1 streaming rights (and that’s good news)
It is not known until when the contract between Mercedes and WhatsApp will run. WhatsApp has announced that the collaboration will last at least this F1 season and will continue after that. Are you not a big fan of Mercedes and would you rather send the red racing car? Then you better make a sticker of the Ferrari emoji, because we will not see that on WhatsApp for the time being.
Download the iPhoned app
