Everyone's a loser: how lottery ads entice the wrong people to gamble.
Washington Monthly › Vol. 27 Nbr. 7-8, July 1995
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Summary
Lottery advertisements are deceiving and lure poor people and compulsive gamblers to buy the tickets. The ads are exempt from truth-in-advertising laws, and sometimes falsely claim that lottery proceeds go to help education and other state finances.
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Everyone's a loser: how lottery ads entice the wrong people to gamble.
Tom had been playing the lottery for two years when God started whispering in his ear. At first, Tom (who asked that his last name be withheld) would spend just a few dollars a week. He had his regular numbers, and he'd play them when he thought of it.
But then, he says, on the days that he hadn't planned on playing, the word would come from Heaven: Your number is coming tonight. Fear would strike him like ice water on the neck: "I'd think, 'I'm not going to win it. I don't have the [money] on that number.'" So he'd rush out to play his regular number, and many more. Before long, he was spending $300 a week on tickets. "It was 'A Dollar and a Dream'; 'Hey, You Never Know,'" he says, repeating the advertising slogans of the New York lottery. Tom pauses. "Those were good come-ons." It's no accident that the vo...See the full content of this document
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