Washington Pulls Plug On Candy Themed Lottery Gambling Tickets

The Washington Lottery has the same troubling task as other state run lottery's. They need to find innovative ways to get people to spend their gambling money.

The state lottery thought they had a strong marketing plan in place when they released their new candy themed lottery scratch off gambling tickets. It turns out the plan was not as strong as they thought.

The state pulled the plug on the new scratch off tickets after receiving complaints that they were targeting young children. The lottery claims that the intention was to lure adults, not children, to the games.

The tickets looked like wrapped candy bars such as Reese's, Twizzlers, Jolly Ranchers, and Milk Duds. The move was to promote the tickets and the candy at the same time, but it backfired when people began to complain.

On February 10th, a letter was written to the lottery director that stated, "Because there may be little to no difference between marketing and advertising strategies directed at teenagers under 18, and those 18 and 19 years old, I ask that you refrain from using tools that entice those young adults to play."

The lottery did not heed the warning, and now must scratch their plans for the new candy tickets. The lottery claims they were not targeting minors to play the candy scratch offs. "We want it clear that we develop games for adult customers," said lottery spokesman, Jacque Coe.

June 22, 2008
Posted By Susan Torres
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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