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New POWERBALL Game Launches With A Coast-To-Coast 'Parade' Across U.S.

A nationwide "parade" will begin airing in 20 states on Jan. 9 to introduce an enriched POWERBALL(R) game. The integrated advertising campaign is the result of an unprecedented collaboration between the 44 members of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a non-profit government-benefit association owned and operated by the lotteries, which operate POWERBALL(R) and other games. The TV commercials were created by Jacksonville-based St. John & Partners and feature a festive holiday parade with a massive, red POWERBALL(R) balloon that dwarfs buildings and leaves the parade broadcast anchors speechless. The new POWERBALL(R) game with a jackpot starting at $40 million and a $1 million cash second prize kicks off on Jan. 15. (Photo: Business Wire)

The campaign, by Jacksonville, Fla.-based St. John & Partners and the Florida Lottery's agency of record since August 2009, is the result of an unprecedented national brainstorming program that began last summer where all of the state lotteries and their ad agencies were invited to submit concepts for the new game's campaign launch.

"The entire process was one of collaboration rather than competition between the different state lotteries and their agencies," said Jim Haynes, Nebraska Lottery Director and Chairman of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by the lotteries, which operates POWERBALL and other games.

"The states and agencies shared their best ideas and the result is a high quality campaign that all of our 44 members can use to promote the new POWERBALL -- providing additional cost savings for our members," added Haynes.

The Florida Lottery, led by Secretary Cynthia O'Connell, worked closely with St. John & Partners in producing the 'Parade' campaign for the new POWERBALL game. 'Parade' features a festive holiday parade with a massive red POWERBALL balloon that dwarfs buildings and leaves the parade broadcast anchors speechless.

"St. John & Partners' creativity shows through with their use of computer generated imagery and effects - making about 100 people look like thousands and transforming the downtown Miami location to look like 'Anywhere USA,' so that the commercials can air everywhere in the nation," said O'Connell.

"'Parade' was selected from many concepts submitted last summer," said David Bishop, Deputy Secretary of Brand Management for the Florida Lottery. "During lottery and consumer research, three concepts were selected as finalists and tested with online panels. 'Parade' was the lead contender and favorite in testing."

The commercial was shot in the heart of downtown Miami in early November with both English and Spanish-speaking anchors providing play-by-play of the parade. David Woodward and Eduardo Abon co-directed the production with Miami based Lava Studio and Native Films. Working with Creative Director David Bonner, Art Director Aaron Peacock and Copywriter Hank Champion was Visual Effects Director Robert Kirkpatrick, who electronically cloned the marching band and crowd to create a scene with thousands of people out of a cast of only 120. Production coordination with all participating states was led by Brand Manager Caroline Eddings.

Since getting its start in April 1992 in 15 states with jackpots that started at a guaranteed $2 million, POWERBALL has grown into one of the world's biggest and most recognizable lottery games. Today, as it nears its 20^th birthday, the game is played in 44 jurisdictions across the nation, with players buying more than $3 billion annually in POWERBALL tickets. The biggest jackpot in the game so far was a $365 million prize split by eight co-workers at a Nebraska meat-packing plant in February 2006.

But with that success comes demand for innovation to keep things fresh - and continue to deliver the attention-grabbing jackpots for which Powerball is known. Haynes said lotteries are responding with the latest changes in POWERBALL.

"We often hear from players who suggest that in addition to POWERBALL's big jackpots, we give away more $1 million cash prizes," Haynes said. "We're doing just that. And these new commercials convey the excitement that this is really big. We're excited to deliver the opportunity to create more millionaires and also provide more opportunities to raise additional revenues for the respected causes benefitted by lotteries."

The enriched POWERBALL game debuts on Jan. 15 and promises to create more millionaires, bigger starting jackpots that will grow faster, more chances to win a prize of at least $1 million cash and better overall odds for winning a prize. The ticket price also will change, moving from $1 to $2 and the Power Play feature will still be available for an extra $1 per play. For that extra $1, players have the chance to win $2 million cash for the Match 5 prize - twice the current prize. While the Power Play now has set prizes, players will still at least double their non-jackpot prizes when they purchase this option.

The new POWERBALL game will still offer players nine ways to win prizes, with its second prize moving up to $1 million in cash from the current $200,000, and the lowest prize level (for those who match just the POWERBALL) being elevated to $4 from $3. Players in the newly designed game will still choose their first five numbers from a pool of 59. But the group of numbers in the POWERBALL pool will shrink from 39 to 35, producing better overall odds of winning a prize in the game. Players today have a 1 in 35 overall chance of winning, which will improve to 1 in 31.8 in the revamped game. That means tens of thousands more winners each drawing. The POWERBALL jackpots will start at $40 million, double the current starting jackpot of $20 million. Powerball's twice-weekly live drawings will be broadcast from the Florida Lottery's studios.

About POWERBALL

POWERBALL drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time, 9:59 p.m. Central Time, 8:59 p.m. Mountain Time and 7:59 p.m. Pacific Time. For more information about POWERBALL please visit www.powerball.com.

The 44 U.S. lotteries where POWERBALL is available are: Arizona Lottery, Arkansas Lottery, Colorado Lottery, Connecticut Lottery Corporation, D.C. Lottery & CGCB, Delaware State Lottery, Florida Lottery, Georgia Lottery Corporation, Hoosier Lottery, Idaho Lottery, Illinois Lottery, Iowa Lottery, Kansas Lottery, Kentucky Lottery Corporation, Louisiana Lottery Corporation, Maine Lottery, Maryland Lott, Massachusetts Lottery, Michigan Lottery, Minnesota State Lottery, Missouri Lottery, Montana Lottery, Nebraska Lottery, New Hampshire Lottery Commission, New Jersey Lottery, New Mexico Lottery Authority, New York Lottery, North Carolina Education Lottery, North Dakota Lottery, Ohio Lottery, Oklahoma Lottery, Oregon Lottery, Pennsylvania Lottery, Rhode Island Lottery, South Carolina Education Lottery, South Dakota Lottery, Tennessee Education Lottery, Texas Lottery, U.S. Virgin Islands Lottery, Vermont Lottery, Virginia Lottery, Washington Lottery, Wisconsin Lottery and the West Virginia Lottery.

POWERBALL is owned by the Multi-State Lottery Association which is a government-benefit, non-profit association owned and operated by 33 member lotteries. MUSL currently coordinates six multi-state games in the United States.

POWERBALL and Power Play are registered trademarks of the Multi-State Lottery Association.

Multi-State Lottery Assn.
Terry Rich, 515-725-7880
trich@ialottery.com
or
Florida Lottery
David Bishop, 850-487-7706
bishopd@flalottery.com
or
St. John & Partners
Todd Lynch, 904-281-2500 x-1009
toddlynch@sjp.com