Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 7, 1993 TAG: 9307070035
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The odds of the lightning strike - 1 in 1.9 million - are better than those for a lottery's top prize: 1 in 12 million, Advertising Age pointed out in a May story.
The odds are not what lottery ads generally emphasize, though. And what lottery ads don't say might eventually make them as controversial as liquor and cigarette ads, said researchers and citizen groups concerned that lotteries might feed compulsive gambling.
States spent $286 million in 1992 to promote their games and make lottery advertising among the 50 top advertising groups in the country, according to the report.
The top five advertisers included our very own Virginia, which spent $22.02 million in 1992.
Paula Otto, public information director for the Virginia Lottery, said the magazine story failed to point out that Virginia is one of the younger states with a lottery. Lottery ad budgets tend to be higher initially and decline as the game ages.
Virginia's 1993 lottery advertising budget is $19.7 million.
However, a section of the Virginia Code forbids the state Lottery Department from running ads that are pure inducement.
"All our advertising is approved by the attorney general's office for meeting legal requirements," Otto said.
Still, no ads point out that the largest population segment playing the lottery is the one with income below $15,000. The 25 percent in that group compares to the 20 percent playing from the $50,000-plus income crowd. The percentage of players drops to 17 and 19 for median income groups.
Although section 58.1-4022E of the state code says the state can't run ads designed specifically to induce play, it also says advertising isn't prohibited "merely because it incidentally or secondarily may persuade a person to purchase a lottery ticket."
Getting people to play is what a lottery is all about. Some states have introduced video lottery and slot machine ticket dispensers to entice players. Some states have banned these methods, but the search is always on for new ways.
Advertising experts spend a good deal of their promotional effort trying to psych out what will satisfy players. Virginia runs telephone surveys and focus groups.
Each time a new game is introduced, 1,000 people are surveyed about what they like and dislike about it, Otto said.
For example, the Full Throttle instant scratch game could be played too fast, Otto said. "You could tell if you won with just one little scratch. We want good-to-the-last-scratch action."
"Your team won't be taken seriously if it's not wearing Adidas. Don't be seen in anything less."
This was the text that accompanied a recent photo of a Canadian Soccer League team wearing nothing but cleated shoes.
However, the 11 nude players kept all their secrets with the deft placement of hands, soccer trophies and soccer balls.
It was still too much for Sports Illustrated, which refused the ad from Adidas (Canada) Ltd. The ad, which was to go into SI's Canadian edition in May, was to promote a new line of apparel for soccer teams.
It may turn out to be one of the best advertising efforts Adidas has had, however, if it can expose the public to the posters it made from the rejected ad.
Now don't go thinking the ad rejection was a strange step for the magazine that does swimsuit editions of scantily clad women.
Comparing the offending ad to swimsuit pictures is "like comparing apples and oranges," an SI official told the Washington Post last week.
Which do you think is more related to sports?
Memo: ***CORRECTION***