The smell of money: Scented lottery tickets unveiled in Colorado
Posted: 6/16/2008 3:08:09 PM
Your trash can might enjoy the new game from the state lottery more than your wallet.
The Colorado Lottery unveiled its first scented scratch game today, the latest in a marketing strategy for gaming more reliant on gimmicks than payouts.
In May, there was Pac-Man. Now there will be coffee, chocolate and bouquet scented tickets.
But will patrons care how their ticket smells?
Erika Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the Colorado Lottery, thinks people will bite, especially women.
"With scratch games, customers often play for entertainment and not just to win money," she said.
This might explain the $3.5 million the scratch Pac-Man made in just over a month.
In comparison, a more generic scratch game called Mountains of Money made about half a million less despite a release date nearly 10 months earlier with a cheaper ticket price.
Gonzalez attributed the Pac-Man figure to nostalgia among longtime fans of the arcade game.
However, the top prize for Pac-Man is $60,000 greater, offering a six-figure payout.
Regardless, scratch games are big business, taking in $297.1 million last year in Colorado.
With their latest strategy, lottery organizers want to tap into a niche of women, who make up 70 percent of crossword game sales, perhaps the most popular scratch game.
"For some reason, women are flocking to the word games, and we wanted to give them another incentive to play," Gonzalez said.
Thus, the inclusion of the bouquet-scented ticket, she added.
Scratch games are a different beast than the Lotto, where players have one clear goal - jackpot.
Payouts are more frequent but not as lucrative with scratch games. Instead, players receive winning odds as low as 1 in 3 and get a more interactive experience.
You can play Deal or No Deal, scratch off Indiana Jones or hope pigs can fly.
Take 40-year-old Anthony Archulata, head down and furiously scratching tickets at a Platte Avenue 7-Eleven on Friday.
"I've been wasting my time on these things since they came out," he said. "You could spend your money on a lot worse things and it's easier to break even."
Does he need a little whiff with his diversion?
"I've played them all, but that's just wrong," he said.
Maybe the scratch-and-sniff crossword really is a woman's game.
Thanks to ThatScaryChick for the tip.
Source: Colorado Springs Gazette
