INDIANAPOLIS — The private company chosen to run the Hoosier Lottery has launched its first advertising campaign, focusing on what lottery players dream of doing with a big payout.
The campaign by GTECH Corp. includes TV, print, radio, and outdoor advertisements. The Indianapolis Star reports that commercials began airing last week as part of the "Imagine That" campaign, featuring a thought bubble that represents lottery players' dreams.
The ads show Indiana residents explaining serious or humorous plans for their winnings. In one spot, a Fort Wayne man says he would fund an expedition to find Bigfoot, while a Granger woman says she would use her winnings to have a baby because she could afford in vitro fertilization.
The ads feature a revamped Hoosier Lottery logo and a voiceover that says, "Our dreams, our lottery."
"Everyone has had those conversations at one time or another, talking about what they would do if they won the lottery," Hoosier Lottery Executive Director Karl Browning said in a statement. "Our new advertising campaign, and new brand overall, gives people the freedom to dream and we're sharing those dreams with Hoosiers across the state."
GTECH, a Rhode Island-based subsidiary of Italian company Lottomatica, was chosen in October to oversee the Hoosier Lottery's daily operations.
A recent study found that only 35 percent of Indiana residents describe the lottery as something that appeals to them. GTECH will have to change that perception if it hopes to fulfill its promise to dramatically boost lottery profits — money that helps reduce motor vehicle excise taxes and fund pension and retirement funds for teachers, police, and firefighters.
GTECH Indiana CEO Connie Laverty O'Connor said she wants to retread the lottery's image to show that "it's regular people that play the lottery, it's an everyman's kind of pastime."
State Sen. Brent Waltz, R-Greenwood, criticized the advertisements, saying they present "entirely unrealistic" situations.
"You are preying in some ways off the hopes and dreams of Hoosiers," he said.
The ads don't mention the remote odds of winning. The chances of winning a Hoosier Lotto jackpot are 1 in 12,271,512. Statistics from the National Weather Service show that people are 12 times more likely to be struck by lightning in a given year.
Lottery profits and gambling taxes account for about 5 percent of Indiana's budget — the third largest revenue source for state government after sales and income taxes.
State Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, said there is little doubt that former Gov. Mitch Daniels' decision to privatize lottery management will benefit Indiana financially, but that goal is mixed from an ethical viewpoint.
"It depends on which horse you're riding," Alting said.
