The New York Lottery has turned 1,326 New Yorkers into Lotto millionaires since 1978, more than any other in-state lottery game in the U.S. And fresh-faced New Yorkers who become rich overnight are way cooler than deeply weird New Yorkers who've been wealthy for generations. Right?
At least, you'll be cooler than they are.
That's the questionable but comic premise behind McCann New York's new campaign for the client—spanning TV, radio, online and out-of-home ads, as well as an amusing digital field guide to identifying eccentric wealthy folks at RichPeopleGuide.com.
First, check out the TV spots:
The ads pull off the neat trick of being relatable while depicting the polar opposite of the target market. Viewers will relate not to the characters, of course, but to the caps-lock on-screen compliment: "You'd make a way better rich person." And it's hard to argue with that, given these people's preposterous habits, like bat collecting and wine bathing.
In reality, this class-focused humor is dicey—lotteries, after all, are no laughing matter for the poor, whom they exploit even as they help fund things like education. (In other words, whether or not poor people would make better rich people, the lottery will only make them poorer.) But this campaign gets away with the angle mostly because it's lighthearted and cartoony enough to be a caricature.
Also, the field guide—created with help from B-Reel—is a fun wrinkle, profiling "rich people of New York you would be better than if you were rich." These include the Eccentric Collector of Eccentric Collections, the Grown-Up Child Star, the Woman of a Million Causes and the Art Collecting Conversation Controller.
Clicking on each character on the website reveals a full snarky bio. McCann even produced actual hardcover books of the field guide—which look really nice, but frankly are a bit of an eccentric way for a wealthy marketer to spend its millions.
Check out a few OOH executions below.
CREDITS
Client: New York Lottery
Agency: McCann NY
Eric Silver, North American Chief Creative Officer
Tom Murphy, Chief Creative Officer New York
Nathy Avriam, Chief Production Officer
Mat Bisher, Executive Creative Director
Grant Smith, Executive Creative Director
Grant Smith, Writer
Jillian Goger, Group Creative Director
Jillian Goger, Writer
Matt Swinburne, Creative Director
Raphael Milczarek, Creative Director
Raphael Milczarek, Art Director
Chauncey Hollingsworth, Senior Copywriter
Stephen Icardi, Art Director
Zoe Kessler, Art Director
Molly Wilkof, Copywriter
Deb Archambault, Senior Integrated Producer
Loly McIndoe, Senior Integrated Producer
Bryan Litman, Senior Integrated Producer
April Gallo, Senior Print Producer
Lauren LaValle, Group Account Director
Geordie Larratt-Smith, Account Supervisor
Rachel Heiss, Account Executive
Mike Medeiros, Executive Planning Director
Kenny Gold, Associate Director, Social
Caitlin Bishop, Digital Strategist
Gingerpic – Frames
Executive Creative Director: Fabiano Feijo
Producers: Ana Azambuja, Ali Lewis
Art Direction: Fabiano Feijo, Fabricio Moraes
3D Manager: Fabricio Moraes
Lead 3D Modelers: Fabricio Moraes, Guilherme Formenti, Gustavo Schinner
3D Shading and Texturing: Guilherme Formenti & Fabricio Moraes
Lead Concept Artists: Flavio Hoffe / Artur Rocha
Lead Photoshop Artists: Veronica Otero, José Feijó, Fabiano Feijó
Andrew Rae – Illustrator
B-Reel – Digital Field Guide
Managing Creative Director: Ben Hughes
Art Director: Mike Potter
Art Director: Marley Stellmann
Designer : Tom Kemper
Animator: Elaine Lee
Motion Designer: Po-Chen Chia
Technology Director: Eric Heaton
Developer: Lucas Dupin
Director of Production: Myke Gerstein
Senior Producer: Ryan Leong
O Positive – TV
Director: Jim Jenkins
Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella
Producer: Marc Grill
Production Manager: Brynn Maguire
Mackenzie Cutler – Post TV
Editor: Ian Mackenzie
Assistant Editor: Mike Leuis
Executive Producer: Sasha Hirschfield
Pomann Sound – Radio
Mixer/Sound Designer: Justin Kaupp