Vanessa Obioha
Consequent to securing the deal as the official soft drink of the English Premier League (EPL), Coca-Cola organised an extravaganza to mark the partnership with lovers of football and music. At the IMAX cinemas, Lekki, Lagos where the event took place, elements of football was deployed with its green carpet and bespoke bright red Coca-Cola footballs placed on pedestal. The event saw a good turn out from football lovers who trooped in donning jerseys of their favourite club to watch the football match between Arsenal and Tottenham. With an abundance of refreshments, a celebratory mood was attained. Also, the event had in attendance stars like Uti Nwachukwu, Small Doctor, Kaffy, Zoro and Frank Donga.
Bolstering the spirit of sportsmanship within the different fan bases, each attendee was entered in a raffle draw to predict the correct score for the match. The match ended in a draw of one goal from each team, consequently producing four persons with correct score predictions. Ify Martins emerged winner of a brand new iPhone XS Max out of the four finalists. Giving a reaction to the raffle draws that was held, Uti Nwachukwu said:
“I don’t support Arsenal, I don’t support Tottenham. I was just here to enjoy a good match. My friend actually predicted 1-1; I thought Tottenham was going to win too. But it was nice to feel the energy, the ambience, the aura of the different fans here of both clubs. It was a lot of fun.”
The end of the match only marks the start of the event as it became a platform where football meets entertainment in equal doses. The merriment lingered a while longer with medley performances from the likes of Small Doctor, Zoro and Kaffy at the reception area of the venue.
Performing right after the match, Kaffy set the tone for the evening. She later joined Small Doctor at the reception to reproduce a number of dance routine for the remaining part of her act. Small Doctor thrilled with his hit single ‘Penalty’ which had the crowd in a frenzied state. The final performer for the day was Zoro. With rap rhymes of Igbo vernacular fused in highlife, he took the crowd down south with many adopting the ‘atiliogu’ dance step to fit in with his genre of music.
Surely, the partnership deal is one that is poised to add sweetness to the Premier League experience this year. Coca-Cola joins the likes of EA Sports, Barclays, Cadbury, Carling, Nike and TagHeuer as the seventh official partner of the EPL.
