Lifetime prize: Ecuadorian traveled for almost 30 years to all World Cups after Coca-Cola draw
A 1998 promotional campaign transformed the life of María del Jesús Pinargote Zambrano, an Ecuadorian citizen who, at the age of 66, received the privilege of watching all World Cup games free of charge, for her entire existence.
The unprecedented benefit came after María, a resident of the province of Manabí, in northwest Ecuador, was the big winner of a Coca-Cola marketing initiative. To participate in the competition, interested parties should collect drink bottle caps and exchange them for coupons at designated locations.
Each coupon required the manual filling of personal information to validate the registration, and was then deposited in specific boxes distributed by several supermarkets and commercial establishments in the region.
On June 14, 1998, María was contacted and informed about her winning the draw, but the news seemed unbelievable. In a statement to CNN Español, the Ecuadorian lady revealed that, faced with the surprise, she asked her husband to confirm the veracity of the result on more than one occasion.
“I received the phone call saying that I was the winner and would have the chance to go to the World Cup. I couldn’t believe it,” she recalled. “I asked my husband to check everything again and again. He then confirmed: ‘Yes, you won. You will watch every World Cup forever’. It was an indescribable joy; we celebrated intensely.”
María’s first participation in a World Cup occurred in the year she won the award, with the tournament being hosted in France in 1998. Four years later, in 2002, she witnessed her country’s debut at the World Cup and accompanied the Brazilian team’s fifth victory. In 2006, he traveled to Germany to witness Ecuador’s historic campaign, which reached the round of 16 of the competition. This sequence of trips, guaranteed by such a long-lasting promotional prize, illustrates a remarkable brand commitment that has spanned almost three decades.
María was also present in South Africa in 2010, Brazil in 2014 and Russia in 2018, culminating her series of trips with the Qatar Cup in 2022. However, for the 2026 edition, she had to decline the privilege due to health challenges.
More than the chance to see the World Cups up close, the award gave María the unprecedented experience of traveling by plane. Furthermore, the right to bring a companion was part of the package; In the first championships, she had the company of her husband and, after his death, she shared these experiences with other family members, including a cousin and a sister-in-law.
