It can be hard to tell who is more impacted by a $50 million lottery ticket.
Richard McMullen, the 54-year old Tallahassee resident and jackpot winner, has stayed out of the public eye since the lottery results were announced last week. Florida Lottery officials said he has requested "minimal media coverage."
The Circle K where he bought the multi-million-dollar ticket, on the other hand, hasn't stopped buzzing with attention and customers hoping for lightning to strike a second time.
It's a strange situation, and one that was completely unexpected, said store manager Patrice Richardson. She was not in the store when McMullen bought his ticket, but she said figuring things out was easy once the media started calling.
"Tuesday (Dec. 27) we started getting the calls," she said. "By Wednesday (Dec. 28) everyone was coming in asking, 'Can I get a ticket?' It's everybody. Even people who have never even played before are coming in."
Florida Lottery officials honored the Circle K on Capital Circle Northeast by Miccosukee Road on Wednesday for its contributions to the Lottery and for selling the ticket that created Florida's 1,000th jackpot winner — the ninth in Tallahassee.
McMullen was conspicuously absent from the celebration where Florida Lottery Secretary Cynthia O'Connell presented Richardson with a plaque and a check for $150,000 to commemorate Circle K's contributions to the lottery and the educational funds the lottery aids.
O'Connell said it's up to individual winners whether or not they choose to step into the spotlight after picking up millions of dollars. She said the real purpose of the lottery is to provide funds for education.
Connie Barnes, spokeswoman for the Florida Lottery, said since 2001, Circle K stores across Florida have made $1.459 billion in revenue from lottery sales. More than $400 million of that has gone back to educational funds.
"It's all about education," she said. "The mission of the Florida Lottery is to build revenue for education. We make monthly transfers to the Department of Education. Hundreds of millions of dollars."
She added the lotto's partnership with Circle K and other retailers is "symbiotic." Jeff Powell, the regional operations director for Circle K in Florida, agreed. He was also present for the presentation of the $150,000 check.
"I'm very excited to be working with the Florida Lottery in this," he said. "This is some great exposure for us at Circle K and our partnership with the lotto is very strong."
Powell wasn't the only excited one. Tiffany Mitchell, a customer service representative at the now-famous Circle K, said she might try playing the same numbers for the next decade in the hope of winning a $50 million bonus. That was the strategy McMullen employed until he won the jackpot.
The winning numbers were 2, 11, 15, 19, 24 and 26. McMullen got all six correct on Christmas Eve.
"As soon as they found out (McMullen) won, I was here in the store to hear all the hoopla," she said. "It was awesome. They say we have the lucky touch or the magic touch. Everyone is feeling the aura out here."
Smart decision!
I would also be a no show. Don't need all the media frenzy and the envious nut-jobs who resent your good fate. 
I'm willing to do a precorded simulcast
No cameras or reporters for me .............. just money
smart move ...................... money is the only way to go green
once i win if people want to hear from me they can ring my prerecorded 1900 number
WHY??????
WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD HE WANT PUBLICITY
JUST SO THAT HE TOO CAN BE MURDRERED LIKE SHAKESPEARE ABRAHAM????
from what I remember of ethier curse of the lottery and or the lottery changed my shows about the bum Shakesphere
he was too stupid to be playing in the first place
NO
Every lottery winner becomes a target.
Did you read the above story and all the jealous deadbeats that are NOW playing at this store?
Anonymity is the only way, publicity, you better hire armed 24 hour guards.
Abraham Shakespeare, in my opinion, was a nice man whose kindness and naivete led to his victimization and brutal murder at the hands of hyena and jackal-like sub-human creatures.
I agree.Abraham Shakespeare wasn't the brightest bulb in the lamp,but he sure didn't deserve to be murdered for his money.
UK Winners who opt for anonymity
Under the terms of the licence granted to the lottery organisers Camelot, winners are entitled to anonymity. If winners do opt for anonymity, the Commission would generally expect the press to respect this wish. To do otherwise may raise issues under the terms of Clause 3 of the Code, which relates to privacy. There may of course be exceptions to this if newspapers and magazines can demonstrate that it is in the public interest to identify an individual against their wishes, although the Commission has noted before that the size of the win alone would not be a sufficient reason for such identification. The Commission notes that in the 9 years since publication of the first guidance note it has not had to deal with any formal complaints about such identification: a welcome sign that editors have respected both the wishes of individuals and the Commission’s guidance. The press should also not seek to obtain information about winners who have requested anonymity from their family, friends or colleagues through any form of harassment contrary to Clause 4 of the Code.
The Press Complaints Commission
All winners should have the right to anonymity, it works in the UK and Australia, it would work in the US also.
There should be some kind of way out of the publicity, some option to remain anonymous - kind of like a plea bargain.
Something like you don't have to have your name released if you agree to eat nothing but Taco Bell for a month.
I don't think many people would go for that though.
And there would be too many suicides by those who did.
One of the most important decisions for new winners to make is whether to opt to go public or remain anonymous. If a winner decides to talk publicly about their win, Camelot’s PR team will organise a press conference and handle all media interest on their behalf, removing the anxiety that can accompany talking about a big win.
If they have requested to remain anonymous, Camelot takes its obligations and duty of care to protect winners’ privacy very seriously. Unless a winner agrees to take full publicity and signs an agreement to that effect, no information about them can be released by Camelot into the public domain.
We have a dedicated team of winners’ advisers who look after all our major jackpot winners. They remain a source of support and advice for as long as a winner needs – often remaining in touch years after hitting the jackpot.
Camelot - UK National Lottery operation
That's there.
In America you can't believe anything the government says.
Especially the one we've got now.
Worst ever.
Makes Jimmy Carter look good, lol.
there was some place i forget where, that had the official who contacted winners giving investment advice, advice that steered tham towards dodgey investments that paid him a cut!
That's called "Chicago-Style" here.
It's a political strategy.
You can actually elect a president using its core concepts.
And we have.
OK, fine that he's a no-show for press conference. But isn't a publicized name and hometown---as in this case---practically as bad as having your face shown on camera?
Yes, probably. It's really up to each STATE to decide if information is released or not.
So, a person can go to their state's lottery headquarter's website and learn what is required of different monetary amount winners.
With the rare exception of a few people who are so stupid they can't even buy a ticket, nobody is too stupid to play the lottery. OTOH, experience shows that a lot of people aren't smart enough to handle winning. Other experience that gets far less publicity shows that it's also possible to win and have no problems that result in media attention. There's no real advantage to starting with anonymity if you aren't smart enough to become anonymous after the fact. The people with the worst problems may as well have flashing neon signs bolted to their heads. That this guy didn't do the dog and pony show probably means that having his name publicized won't be a big deal.
You are exactly right! I once won a lot of money in Play 4 and my boss was so mad she gave everyone raises but me. I learned right then, never, NEVER tell anyone you work with when you win. They may appear to be happy for you but trust me, they are not. Be very careful which friends and relatives you tell as well, if any. Best just to count your blessings, pay off your bills, and put it in the bank if you can.