By Sue-Ann Wayow
WORDS could not describe how a farmer from Tabaquite felt after winning a brand-new BMW.
Naresh Partap copped the grand prize of the sleek, black BMW 3 Series sedan on Friday evening in the Johnnie Walker Code Black Grand Prize “Live Draw,” at Offside Restaurant and Bar, South Park, San Fernando.
Ten lucky finalists were chosen for the grand prize and although only one got the car, the others received tokens from AS Bryden & Sons (Trinidad) Ltd, organiser of the promotion.
Speaking to the media following his win, Partap said his eyes were on the prize since last December when he bought nine bottles of the Johnnie Walker Black 750 ml for his personal bar during the Christmas season. Johnnie Walker is one of his preferred drinks.
Even more enthused about the competition was his son who is not yet of legal drinking age. The Form Two pupil researched the vehicle and the specs with the hope that his father would win the prize and entered his father into the competition.
The winning bottle was purchased at Stackhouse in Williamsville.
Partap jumped for joy upon learning he was the lucky one and his wife Caren was the first to hug him although he said he would have been happy with any outcome.
It is the first time in his life he has won something of such magnitude.
Partap just recently purchased another vehicle for his wife and said, “This one is for my son when he becomes of age.”
He is pleased that the winner was someone from a more rural area in Trinidad.
The live draw comes after a successful two-month, nation-wide promotion which ran from November 2023 to January 2024. Scotch enthusiasts participated by purchasing any type of Johnnie Walker bottle. Promotional bottles featured a sticker, which when peeled back, revealed a QR code to be scanned, for entry into the promotion.
Ten finalists were selected at random and were invited to the Johnnie Walker Code Black Grand Prize “Live Draw” event.
Daylene Raghoobar Nandlal, one of the commercial managers for AS Bryden said interestingly, all the finalists in this competition were from Central and South Trinidad so it was decided to do the final draw at a South location.
She said the company was listening to the public’s feedback at having similar such events at different locations throughout the country.
When asked about other promotions, Raghoobar Nandlal said, “We have major brands in terms of where we position and in terms of the investment of where we think is right for that particular year and time so yes we will select accordingly.”
She said the consumption of alcohol was not diminishing but shifts all the time with people exploring different tastes and profiles.
“Our job is always to keep our brand categories exciting and number one. And that is why we do promotions at this level.”
Raghoobar Nandlal continued: “The feedback is that people want more of this and obviously we want to continue satisfying to this level. We constantly try to reward our consumers with different promotions.”
At the event, the finalists also engaged in a cocktail making competition using a bottle of Johnnie Walker.
Raghoobar Nandlal explained that most people drink scotch either straight or with a chaser, so the cocktail competition allowed them to experience the drink differently.
Apart from the major competitions, AS Bryden is promoting the brand at various locations throughout the country, first drink is free, second drink at a discount.
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