* Tina Sfondeles…
Following a study that found some Illinois Lottery players, particularly young ones, had a poor understanding of the nature of gambling — like that you shouldn’t bank a paycheck on the lottery — the state is launching a campaign to help players make more “informed decisions” when playing.
The study found 63.4 percent of players polled — ages 18 to 24 — had a low level of gambling literacy, meaning they didn’t understand that gambling isn’t a good way to make money; that if you gamble more often, it won’t necessarily mean you’ll win more than you lose or that your chances of winning don’t get better after you’ve lost. […]
A $230,000 Illinois Lottery campaign — launching Monday — will feature social media posts, in-store messaging and paid advertising to drive players to the Illinois Lottery’s website. The goal is to teach players about common myths. And the lottery plans to do further research after the campaign to see if it makes a difference in gaming literacy.
Messages will include, “Set a limit, Stick to it,” as well as “Play for fun. Not funds,” and “Remember, it’s a game of chance.”
The lottery website will also dispel some myths like that there’s no such thing as a “lucky touch,” and winnings are completely random, with no guaranteed rate on a ticket.
- Smalls - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 9:54 am:
The Lottery is Illinois’ regressive income tax.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 9:59 am:
“It’s immoral to let a sucker keep his money” - Canada Bill Jones
- AndyIllini - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:00 am:
Talk about an indictment of our education system
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:02 am:
I had to double-check the date with this one. Thought maybe April 1 had snuck up on me.
–“Our old message was ‘Play responsibly.’ Our new message is ‘Be smart, play smart.’
You’re going to need a bigger boat, because it’s going to be a monster haul at the Clios. Bonuses all around for that revolutionary change in message.
–Illinois Lottery Acting Director Harold Mays said of the campaign. “So it’s subliminal, but it’s in your face all the time.”–
Subliminal and in your face all the time, at the same time?
Is is April 1 or not?
- OneMan - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:08 am:
Doesn’t the lottery (like video gaming) rely on hardcore players for most of its revenue?
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:14 am:
=== Talk about an indictment of our education system ===
I’m not going to stand here and let you badmouth the United States of America!” - Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman Delta Tau Chi
- lakeside - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:17 am:
== poor understanding of the nature of gambling==
Or, and hear me out here, the system is functioning exactly as it was designed.
Doesn’t exactly scream “this is a good product” when you’re spending heaps of money to ask people to please buy your product less.
- N Believable - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:19 am:
The lottery should be found to violate the Americans with Disabilities Act…it preys upon the math challenged.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:20 am:
Jay Robert—buy more lottery tickets, your state needs your money.
- A Jack - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:25 am:
So we spent $230k to bring players to the lottery website so we can tell them that they are likely not going to win if they play.
- PublicServant - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:25 am:
You’re making money off those at the lower end of the earnings scale, and to ease your conscience about taking their money, you’re going to educate them on just how bad a bet the lottery is? Good idea.
- Iggy - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:46 am:
better plan for the 230K, spend the money on building a fully functioning app, then run a marketing campaign saying the lottery has entered the 21st century. result, more people gambling. I say we just lean into this moral decay of society. I can already use my phone to bet on sports, why not play the lottery.
- A guy - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:46 am:
You just need a dollar and a dream….Everyone seemed to understand that tag line.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:55 am:
–You’re making money off those at the lower end of the earnings scale, and to ease your conscience about taking their money, you’re going to educate them on just how bad a bet the lottery is?–
If I recall, the whole “education” effort started back in the ’80s when the lottery got in trouble with lawmakers for specifically targeting poor areas of the state.
They were running billboards on the West Side with the headline: “Go from Madison to Easy Street. Play Lotto.” Similar billboards were running in other impoverished communities.
- yinn - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 10:57 am:
==Doesn’t the lottery (like video gaming) rely on hardcore players for most of its revenue?==
Pareto Principle, aka 80/20 rule, says distribution of anything, from worker production to sales, will not be evenly distributed.
This seems to hold especially true when it comes to something that can be overused or abused, like soda, alcohol or gambling, as in “80% of your sales will come from 20% of your customers.”
It’s one of the first rules in advertising, where campaigns need to differentiate between those that lure new customers and those that tend to increase usage among the brand loyal.
- City Zen - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 11:19 am:
In high school, my senior year Algebra class curriculum was pretty much determining the odds of what the next card(s) would be in a poker hand.
- @misterjayem - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 11:26 am:
“Don’t become a burden on the state — stop when you’ve become a burden on your family.”
– MrJM
- NoGifts - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 11:37 am:
“The House always wins.”
- illini - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 11:46 am:
“The study found 63.4 percent of players polled — ages 18 to 24—”. Is this the profile of the lottery players in Illinois, or did I misread something?
Most of the people I notice at the grocery store, quick shop or gas station that are buying tickets are usually past the half century mark in age. Hardly ever will I see anyone in their early 20’s playing any of the games.
- West Side the Best Side - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 12:22 pm:
Rube: “Is this a game of chance?” W. C. Fields: “Not the way I play it, no.”
- Huh? - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 12:27 pm:
I just wish the lottery would stop selling the ordinary tickets, the ones, when checked, that say “sorry not a winner”
- Huh? - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 12:28 pm:
It’s pretty sad when the most fun you have playing the lottery is when the ticket reader says “results not in”.
- Ken_in_Aurora - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 2:27 pm:
I’m only half kidding when I refer to it as the “Stupidity Tax.” (And yes, I pay it too - in very small increments.)
- Rabid - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 6:03 pm:
Help out the addicts, say ” your a loser”
- Blue Dog Dem - Tuesday, Mar 26, 19 @ 6:25 pm:
The Surgeon General warns that playing Lotto may be hazardous to your wallet.
Wonder what that messaging is gonna cost when they warn of the ramifications of legal pot.
- Question More - Wednesday, Mar 27, 19 @ 5:34 am:
…and then Camelot, the IL Lottery Manager ships
profits to the Teachers Retirement Fund in Ontario, Canada. No, it is not April Fool Day.
- p'nut - Wednesday, Mar 27, 19 @ 9:32 am:
Was it ever changed so that Lottery has to now advertise if all the major prizes for an instant ticket are now gone and not available to be won? Wasn’t that an issue a while back? They still advertised and sold the tickets but the main prizes were gone for that game….