It looks like a few state lotteries are finally coming around to the idea of allowing winner's to claim their prizes anonymously. To their credit, Michigan's lottery has been doing this for years. Now Delaware is on board. Good for them. It's honestly the most humane thing that lotteries can do for their winners.
They are running a new ad campaign with this slogan:
It's not a bad line, and, it's huge news for Delaware lottery winners. The one irony is that, until you win, most folks never consider the repercussions of the public knowing their name. That's why lotteries have been able to continue the ridiculous practice of publicizing winner's names for marketing purposes. In the end, who's really that concerned about the plight of lottery winners? There aren't exactly a lot of "Save the Lottery Winner" telethons.
I was on the train to NYC last weekend and I saw about a dozen of these posters flanking the platform in Wilmington. I got so excited I fumbled my cell phone trying to snap a picture to post here. It did, however, strike me as odd that the Delaware lottery went to the trouble of publicizing the change in policy. I don't think the new policy will send non-players running to their local Kwik-E-Mart to start playing the lottery. And, those that already play were playing anyway.
So, it begs the question: where is the lottery directing this marketing campaign, and why? Perhaps they've read an advance copy of my book? Doubtful. Still, I was pleased to see one of the main positions in my book validated by the Delaware lottery. Well done Delaware.
I saw one of these ads in the Wilmington Amtrack station (aptly placed) and thought of you. My next thought was how glad you must be that this didn't happen five years ago.
Posted by: Brian Stanford | Monday, July 23, 2007 at 12:38 PM