Lottery follies, part 2
The second in a series of commentaries about what's really in the lottery bill:
Let's talk advertising.
The state can advertise the lottery ... as long as the ads aren't intended to entice people to play.
I'm not kidding. The law says, "No advertising may have the primary purpose of inducing persons to participate in the lottery."
Well, I certainly look forward to the first billboard that proclaims:
"North Carolina's Easley Money Lottery! Megabucks for schools! Huge prizes! (But we're not trying to get you to buy tickets) Available everywhere!"
Then there are the cartoon characters ...
Wait, no cartoon characters. The law says use of cartoon characters in lottery advertising is prohibited.
But ... "In lottery games using tickets, each ticket may have printed on it a depiction of one or more cartoon characters, whose primary appeal is not to minors."
Of course not! Cartoons don't appeal to kids.
Besides, the law also directs that, "Lottery advertising shall be tastefully designed and presented in a manner to minimize the appeal of lottery games to minors."
That's good. But I thought the ads weren't supposed to make the lottery appeal to anyone. You know, it can't induce persons to participate.
There's more.
"No advertising may intentionally target specific groups or economic classes."
"No advertising may be misleading, deceptive, or present any lottery game as a means of relieving any person's financial or personal difficulties."
Sure.
Tasteful.
Minimize appeal to minors.
No inducements.
No "intentional" targeting of the poor or minorities.
No raising anyone's hopes of striking it rich.
Who the heck is going to enforce these dubious restrictions?
Well, the law doesn't say. Guess we'll just have to trust the lottery commission to police itself.
Comments (2)
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Doug --
The real problem for folks who take your point of view is not the lottery law as it IS written. It is pretty tightly drawn as those things go.
The problem that folks who don't like the lottery need to watch out for is the lottery law as it could be re-written, as has happened in lots of other states that have found the need to up the jackpots, boost advertising, etc... The General Assembly will probably find it easier to tweak an existing law (think changes to ABC rules) than to put the original law on the books.
And yes...we're still waiting for those lottery commission appointments.
--mark
Posted on September 15, 2005 10:13 AM
Thanks, Mark. That is definitely a concern. I know some legislators are saying the legislature WILL revisit the lottery legislation. Look out!
Posted on September 15, 2005 10:33 AM