The Super Eagles kickoff their World Cup campaign on June 16 against Iran with Nigerians hopeful of a victory in a group that also comprises Argentina, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

As the African champions finalise their preparations for the task in Brazil, those back in Nigeria are dreaming for a brighter future, despite the seemingly daunting challenges they face daily. These dreams have been bolstered by the wide adoption of marketing promotions as an easy way of increasing awareness for products and services as well as boosting sales.

This emerging trend has also come to be adopted by Nigerians as one of the avenues open to them to better their lives. People have become millionaires, car owners, home owners or even earning salaries from life overnight, courtesy of marketing promotions run by several corporate bodies.

Like they say, every advantage has its own disadvantage. Dubious corporate establishments have latched in on the adoption of promos by Nigerians as a way of life and have adopted the use of fake promos as a marketing tool to dupe gullible Nigerians.

They will promise hundreds of cars but will only give out few; many houses and none will be given out at the end of the day etc. This has invoked a high level of distrust in Nigerians towards promos as not many budge today in the advertisement of new promos.

Theodora Egbejiogu and Charles Ude are not unaware of the shenanigans that go on in the name of promotions but believed, and took their chances at participating, in the Coca-Cola FIFA World Cup promo and recently won the star prize of an all-expense-paid trip to watch the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Theodora, who is an undergraduate of the University of Abuja entered into the competition with fingers crossed, expecting the best but also prepared for the worst. She had submitted entries to different competitions over the years but had never been ‘lucky’ to win any until now.

Her interest was piqued this time because of the promise of the star prize. According to her, she had wished she could personally watch this year’s World Cup tournaments live in Brazil and today feels that her prayers have not been in vain as she came out victorious in the Week 4 draws of the promo.

Charles Ude has very much in common with Theodora. He is also a student from Nassarawa State University who never believed in consumer promos until he emerged as one of the lucky winners of the Coca-Cola World Cup promo. Charles is an avid football lover as is common among the Nigerian male folks and the gift of watching the matches live in Brazil is one of the most amazing opportunities he could ever wish.

According to the company, “this is a testament to the fact that Coca-Cola, as a company, is not only a sport loving brand but one that wants to share its love of sports with its consumers all over the world,” said Toyin Nnodi, Project Manager for the Coca-Cola Nigeria FIFA World Cup promo.