Corporate South Africa brings the ‘gees’ for the Springboks and Proteas

Nothing has the capacity to capture the hearts, and wallets, of the nation quite like the Springboks and their battle to win the Rugby World Cup.

Inevitably we’ve seen plenty of our beloved Boks on TV, advertising everything from sports drinks and chocolate to car insurance. But corporate South Africa has also been generous to fans in the ‘gees’ (good spirit) of the tournament.

The nation’s largest online retailer, Takealot, has paid out R10m to 800 shoppers in its #BacktheBucks TV refund campaign this year.

As Bok captain Siya Kolisi said, in 2019 South Africans hoped the Boks would win, but this year they expected it of the reigning champions.

In 2019 Takealot kept its promise to refund 346 customers who had bought Samsung TVs ahead of the November 2019 final, refunding a total of R4m after the Boks’ 32-12 victory against England in the final.

This year Takealot was back to boxing clever with its Samsung promo, despite the Boks being favourites to win, albeit with a tough road to the final.

“A win for the Springboks is a win for all South Africans,” Takealot said.

This was especially so for Takealot shoppers who bought one of five Samsung TVs, ranging in price from R6,000 to R16,000, who were automatically refunded. They had their spend deposited into their bank accounts, rather than reflected as a credit in their Takealot wallet.

DStv also got in on the action by offering its Stream Access package, usually R99 per month, for just R19.95, a nod to the iconic 1995 Rugby World Cup. Non-subscribers” who signed up on October 27 and 28 secured themselves a month’s viewing at that special “less than a cup of coffee” price in time for Saturday night’s big match.

At the end of the month, should no cancellation or downgrade request be received from the new sign-ups, “DStv Stream Access will remain active at the prevailing rate of R99”, MultiChoice said.

Questioned about this, a MultiChoice spokesperson said the subscribers would not automatically be charged if they failed to cancel their 30-day subscription.

“A DStv subscription is an upfront payment, so services will only be rendered when a customer subscribes. If the customer is not keen on continuing their subscription, they don't pay and that's the end of it” she said.

Asked how many people had taken advantage of the R19.95 streaming offer shortly before the final, the spokesperson said as MultiChoice was in a closed period until its results were announced in mid-November it couldn’t discuss subscriber numbers.

With “South Africa” engraved for the fourth time on the Web Ellis Cup, Pick n Pay turned its attention to the Proteas’ Cricket World Cup bid.

“Asap will fully refund in cash all orders of more than R500 placed between October 30 and November 17 should South Africa emerge victorious in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup,” the retailer announced.

“When the Proteas win the tournament, our customers will win with them. It is a win-win for South Africans.”

This after its arch-rival, Checkers’ Sixty60 online delivery service, made one of its customers a scratch card millionaire in the middle of every one of the Boks’ World Cup matches.

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