Some May Not Think It's Funny …

Just a word about those "spoof" lottery tickets that you may have seen as gag gifts at a friend's birthday or a co-worker's retirement party: Some people really, really don’t think they’re funny. And boy, do we hear about it!

I have one of the gag tickets on my bulletin board in my office that was given to me years ago because someone knew I worked at the lottery and wanted me to see it. I’ve scanned in the front so you can check it out. As you can see, "Camelot's Gold" is a pretty good imitation of a real lottery ticket. And, although I haven't scratched it, I'm sure if I did, it would appear that I've won a $20,000 prize. That's where the joke (some might say cruel hoax) comes in.

A lot of people really do believe they've won until they look closely at the verbiage on the back of the ticket. That's where it says: "Claim forms supplied by Santa Claus. All winning tickets must be validated by the Tooth Fairy and conform to her game rules. Winning prizes may NOT be claimed anywhere, so forget about it! All winners are losers and must have an excellent sense of humor." It also notes that the spoof ticket is for entertainment purposes only.

Now, there may be some good sports about these gag-gift tickets, but they aren't the folks I've heard from. Those who have contacted the lottery have been really mad and thought that we had something to do with it.

One woman wrote to us and told us it was not funny and she thought it was extremely mean and cruel of the Iowa Lottery to distribute tickets like that! I had to write her back and let her know: 1.) we had nothing to do with it, 2.) it wasn't our product, and 3.) whoever had given it to her likely just meant it as a joke. She didn't write me back, but I'm pretty sure she didn't think it was funny.

Now, I'm not going to try to dictate what is or is not funny, but just know that if you give someone one of these gag tickets, I'll probably be the one who ends up hearing about it!