Nigeria's ThisDay newspaper reports on the DStv subscribers who've been left high and dry after being selected as the big winners in a MultiChoice Africa competition and promised that they would attend the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on 26 January this year.
According to the ThisDay report, the DStv competition promo hype turned into a "misadventure" for the two winners who were promised they'd see the Grammys with their spouses - although none of the 4 got to travel to America, got to see the 2014 Grammy Awards, "nor got anything as compensation for the disappointment till date".
The newspaper says "the whole exercise now looks like a fraud in disguise as the brand owners only used it to boost sales while the promo lasted".
The one winner who was announced back in October 2013, wrote to MultiChoice in Nigeria and says he feel MultiChoice used them for marketing purposes.
According to DStv subscriber Emmanuel Igoche - who wrote to MultiChoice after he was promised an all expenses paid trip to see the 2014 Grammy Awards - says that "the lead time between when I was presented the prize [October 2013] afforded you the opportunity to maximise the publicity and attract even more successful patronage of your promo this time would also have afforded you the avenue to meet your obligation had you wanted to do so".
MultiChoice's management in Nigeria didn't respond to ThisDay's media enquiries; ThisDay says neither MultiChoice's Nigerian marketing manager Martin Mabutho nor the MultiChoice woman responsible to organise the prize Bisi Animasahun answered or returned calls.
Nigerian's Consumer Protection Council (CPC) slammed MultiChoice in Nigeria saying the pay-TV platform "was not fair" to the winners.
Although MultiChoice Africa failed to give winners their prize, the company is now running a new marketing campaign and competition in Africa until 3 March promising "one lucky couple" an "all-expense paid trip" to E! Entertainment in Los Angeles.
