Snapchat stages a viral hashtag takeover on rival Instagram

Snap is taking a subtle dig at rival social media platform Instagram in a new global advertising campaign launched on Tuesday.

The campaign, called “Real Friends,” aims to highlight how users can connect with their close friends on the company’s app, Snapchat. As part of the launch, Snap staged a “hashtag takeover” on Facebook-owned Instagram, filling the #realfriends and #friendshipquotes pages with quotes from notable figures about friendship.

The ads are distinguished by Snap’s signature yellow and ghost logo, nicknamed Ghostface Chillah. Many of the Instagram ads were posted by inspirational quote accounts with a sizable follower count.

“When we launched Snapchat more than seven years ago, it wasn’t about capturing the traditional Kodak moment, or trying to look pretty or perfect,” the company said in a blog post. “We wanted to create a way for our friends to express themselves and share how they felt in the moment.”

“Today, we’re launching a celebration of the real friends who use Snapchat,” Snap added.

Snap also posted a series of short videos featuring Snapchat users talking about their friendships, alongside footage from the app.

The campaign comes after Snap last week posted better-than-expected results for the second quarter. Snap’s user base grew to 203 million daily active users, representing the second quarter in a row of growth for the company.

It’s not the first time Snap and Instagram have engaged in a bit of friendly fire. Facebook attracted attention when it copied several popular features from Snapchat, most notably its ephemeral Stories feature and augmented reality camera effects. In response, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, quipped that he wished Facebook would copy Snap’s “data protection practices,” not just its product, and criticized Facebook as being a place for “shallow friendships.”

Snap and Facebook were not immediately available to comment on the campaign.