Isnt that misleading advertising?
Mexico´s Melate Game has reached an Historic Jackpot for Sunday June 3rd 2007.
http://www.pronosticos.gob.mx/
Me late can be translated as "I have a Hunch" or "I can feel it in my Heart"
(That's why their logo is a Heart)
406 Million Pesos for the Melate Game
and 95 Million Pesos for the Revancha (Revenge) Game
I say that is misleading advertising because they are separate games
15 pesos for a melate and 5 pesos more (optional) for the Revancha
(A melate ticket is more expensive (1.40 USD) than a Mega Millions or Powerball ticket)
The Jackpot is supposedly given in a lump sum minus 7% for taxes.
There are many fishy things about these games:
1. They never mention who wins (or even where the Jackpot is won)
(supposedly for security reasons, because some lottery winners have been kidnaped or murdered)
2. The National Lottery has always been known to be the petty cash for the Mexican Government.
(Political Parties finance their presidential campaigns with this money) (Lottery officials are always being investigated for corruption and embezzlement)
3. The former Secretary of Government (who wanted to be a presidential candidate in last year's elections) granted permission to Televisa (monopolistic Television Company in Mexico ) for creating a private lottery http://www.multijuegos.com.mx/home/
This private lottery began in February 2007, with a lot of media advertising, (with a ridiculous low-class and uneducated character named "Tom Buck" as their spokeman) so sales went down for the Government Lottery with the risk of going bankrupt.
The Government had similiar ads for their lottery. Examples:
A man asking their little children what did they want to be as adults, one of them saying "I want to be a Lawyer" another one saying "I want to be a Doctor" and the youngest saying "I want to be a Millionare" and showing lotto tickets.
A woman telling about all the time and sacrifices she had to went through to open her own business,
and a younger woman telling her that she opened her business in a short time and with no effort just by buying lottery.
A teenager asking his father for his car, and the father saying no. The teenager buys lottery and comes back to his house with a brand new car, women and going to nightclubs.
As soon as the sales went down for the mexican lottery, they changed the advertising,
claiming that the lottery is to help the poor people and to improve education.
(like the worldvision ads they show to help the children in the third world countries)
Thats is why is strange that now that the sales are down, the jackpot has reached so high.
It had never reached more than 150 million pesos since the Melate Game started in the early 90's.
considering that it is a NATIONAL GAME. and before February 2007, there was no other like it.