• by Larissa Faw , December 2, 2016

California Lottery and its agency David&Goliath are introducing the Holiday 2016 Scratchers campaign to highlight the emotion behind the game rather than support winning or payouts. 

The 90-second online "Pennies" spot shows a coworker spreading joy around the office by cleverly leaving pennies adorned with tiny little bows, for his colleagues to find. Puzzled, the colleagues each make their way to their cars where they find Holiday Scratchers on their windshields and realize the meaning of the special pennies.  

The campaign includes 30- and 15-second versions running on TV in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento and Fresno. Additional elements of the campaign include radio, digital and outdoor. 

The campaign also includes a fun 90-second backstory running on social media that introduces an eccentric bow maker who specializes in “miniature bow-tying” and is responsible for the tiny bows in the Pennies creative.  

The artistry of these spots came from acclaimed cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema -- most known for his work on "Interstellar," "Her," "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "The Fighter" -- who served as director of photography. His talent helped to underscore the goal of the campaign which is to highlight the emotions that come from receiving Holiday Scratchers, even when the person purchasing is not the one playing, says the agency. The heart of the campaign lies in the touching moments of surprising and delighting people in your life who may not be expecting anything at all. 

Last year, the California Lottery reported more than $5.5 billion in total sales during the fiscal year, the highest sales total in the state’s lottery history. This growth was fueled by sales of Scratchers tickets, which totaled $3.9 billion.