UFO – New York Lottery Take 5 Campaign | Clapboard Ad Archive

Ice Carousel - Minnesota Lottery | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Ice Carousel - Minnesota Lottery | Clapboard Ad Archive

The Minnesota Lottery returns to the heart of winter with Ice Carousel, a spirited campaign from Periscope that extends the ongoing I'MN platform in the gambling market by celebrating the impromptu, communal thrill of embracing the unexpected. Unfolding against a distinctly Minnesotan snowy backdrop, the 2018 film spot trades the predictability of product demonstration and endorsement for a vibrant portrayal of spontaneous experiences that lottery players — and those who share their adventurous spirit — can recognize as distinctly their own. Eschewing overt sales pitches, the creative concept lingers in the realm of possibility, visually aligning the Minnesota Lottery’s brand with a homegrown ethos of togetherness, braving the chill, and carving out joy in the unpredictable. At the center sits a memorable ice carousel — not just as a spectacle but as a metaphor for both the risk and exuberance of opting in, playing along, and discovering the delight that lives outside the ordinary. Periscope’s execution harnesses what Clapboard’s taxonomy classifies as FORMAT#10—Associated User Imagery, crafting scenarios where the audience is encouraged to see themselves among the fun-seizers, the risk-takers, and the winter revelers. By connecting the impulse to try something unpredictably joyful with the act of playing the lottery, the Minnesota Lottery underscores that its games are less about calculation and more about the stories you’ll tell. The campaign’s presence across digital platforms, from the brand’s website to an integrated social media push, reinforces the inclusivity and contemporary relevance of the message, with uplifting visual storytelling cultivating an emotional environment where participation becomes its own reward. The campaign earns 63/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. At a time when gambling brands struggle to define themselves as entertainment rather than mere games of chance, Ice Carousel demonstrates how associating the brand with real-world exuberance and local culture can carve a more resonant, lasting place in audience memory.

Don’t wait for happiness to happen to you - Dutch State Lottery | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Don’t wait for happiness to happen to you - Dutch State Lottery | Clapboard Ad Archive

Dutch State Lottery’s 2022 New Year’s Eve campaign with TBWA\NEBOKO pivots decisively away from the conventional gambling narrative of windfall jackpots, making a deliberate play for emotional resonance through a tender, narrative-driven film underpinned by the proposition that some of life’s rewards are more valuable than any prize. The campaign, released in the Netherlands, crafts a cinematic story of a son who chooses agency over passivity by embarking on a transformative journey with his father, anchoring the brand’s messaging in proactive pursuit of happiness and meaningful connection instead of waiting for luck to deliver fulfillment. This narrative approach is amplified by a bespoke musical collaboration, which weaves local creative talent into the fabric of the campaign and bolsters its relatability for Dutch viewers. By staging this campaign around New Year’s Eve—a moment ripe for reflection, hope, and family ties—the brand situates lottery play within the broader context of life’s real priorities, reframing the act of buying a ticket as a symbolic gesture toward possibility and togetherness, not a mere wager on fortune. Strategically, this positioning aligns Dutch State Lottery with the responsible, community-focused values that increasingly define the gambling market in the Netherlands, distinguishing it from competitors by foregrounding human connection over transactional excitement. TBWA\NEBOKO’s narrative execution, situated firmly within what Clapboard’s taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#5—Exemplary Story, ensures the product’s ethos is fundamental to the plot’s resolution, elevating the lottery from a passive product to an enabler of shared experience. The campaign is intentionally constructed for emotional engagement, with an evocative soundtrack and understated visuals dovetailing to create a sense of authenticity and warmth, steering the category’s communication away from transactional promises toward richer, aspirational storytelling. Dutch State Lottery and TBWA\NEBOKO signal to an evolving audience that, in an industry often dominated by instant gratification, the real value lies in what can be experienced and shared, not just in prizes won. Clapboard rates this 63/100. This campaign matters to the industry because it demonstrates that, within the gambling sector, brands can build enduring relevance by trading on emotional truth rather than just the thrill of chance.

Buschhhhh - Busch | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Buschhhhh - Busch | Clapboard Ad Archive

Busch’s 2017 campaign Buschhhhh, developed by Deutsch for the US market, marked a pivotal evolution for the beer brand within the Alcoholic Drinks category by unveiling a new can and anchoring the refresh with a distinct character-driven platform. Introducing Busch Guy as the embodiment of rugged honesty and outdoor authenticity, the campaign established its message with clarity: the product’s classic crisp, cold taste is unchanged, but the experience now bears a bolder identity. Deutsch’s creative leaned heavily into character as device, adopting what Clapboard’s taxonomy categorises as FORMAT#8—Ongoing Characters or Celebrities, with the recurring presence of Busch Guy serving as an instant signal for viewers and a vessel for brand personality. The setting and tone aligned seamlessly with the brand’s longstanding appeal to blue-collar, nature-loving drinkers, foregrounding integrity and straightforward enjoyment rather than aspirational sophistication or urban detachment. The campaign’s timing—premiering during the Super Bowl—maximised reach and cultural relevance, ensuring Busch’s repositioning would resonate at scale and reinforce its status in the national conversation. The signature campaign moment, the emphatic BUSCHHHHH exclamation, not only punctuated the spot with memorability but functioned as an audio mnemonic, permanently wedded to the act of cracking open a can in the American outdoors. Such device design is strategic: it builds sticky recall and closes the gap between product usage and brand affinity, validated by viewership above 800,000. The simplified narrative—eschewing convoluted plots or forced humor—spotlighted a relatable spokesperson who is deliberately not a glossy celebrity but a believable extension of the brand’s everyman ethos, connecting directly with Busch’s core base while offering cultural permission to reengage for those who may have lapsed. By centering on steadfast traits rather than superficial novelty, and by leveraging the ongoing character format, Deutsch reinforced the brand’s authenticity while delivering a revitalised yet familiar face to the market. Buschhhhh earns a 65/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. For an industry crowded with fleeting novelty acts and campaign one-offs, Buschhhhh is a case study in the strategic value of sustained character work when driving salience among hands-on, no-nonsense drinkers.

Upside down, Helium - Sparkling Ice | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Upside down, Helium - Sparkling Ice | Clapboard Ad Archive

Sparkling Ice and Wexley School for Girls upended expectations in the United States non-alcoholic drinks market with the 2017 campaign Upside Down, Helium, using the familiar setting of a family dinner as a launchpad for a radically offbeat creative intervention. The film sharply counters the perennial blandness of conventional beverages, embodying Sparkling Ice’s brand commitment to vibrant flavor with zero calories through a bold visual conceit: everyday experiences, quite literally, turned on their head, atmospherically charged through buoyant, helium-inspired absurdity. These stylistic exaggerations aren’t just inventive—they serve as direct, kinetic symbols of the product’s positive impact, an approach that sits squarely in Clapboard’s FORMAT#9—Symbolize the Benefit classification. This tactic transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, expressing the core campaign message Drink Not Bland. Be Not Bland by reimagining the dinner table as a space where energy and surprise reign, the act of drinking Sparkling Ice becoming synonymous with breaking out of the mundane. The energetic, playful tone and visual inventiveness carve out clear market differentiation for Sparkling Ice, reinforcing relevance for health-conscious consumers seeking bold taste without compromise, while ensuring communications resonate on both rational (calorie-free) and emotional (joy, fun) levels. Wexley School for Girls demonstrates a savvy understanding of evolving beverage category codes, deploying humor, irreverence, and visual hyperbole as tools of instant, memorable brand salience. With its alignment to a rapidly shifting cultural preference for lifestyle balance—flavor and fun without guilt—the campaign amplifies Sparkling Ice’s role as a flavorful alternative to the everyday, building an accessible yet distinctive identity. The campaign earns 66/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. This campaign matters because it signals a shift toward bolder, symbol-heavy storytelling in the food and drink sector, where tone and creative intuition are increasingly critical levers for brand differentiation.

Technically Legal - TaylorMade | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Technically Legal - TaylorMade | Clapboard Ad Archive

TaylorMade’s 2017 Technically Legal campaign, developed by Zambezi for the fiercely competitive sports market, stands as a direct testament to the brand’s ability to translate innovative golf engineering into audience intrigue and product desire. At its core, this campaign is an unflinching demonstration of the M2 driver’s defining attribute—maximizing performance at the very edge of regulatory boundaries—while spotlighting TaylorMade’s relentless commitment to giving golfers a decisive technical advantage without crossing the line. Rather than indulge in narrative metaphor or celebrity allure, Technically Legal operates squarely within what Clapboard’s taxonomy classifies as FORMAT#1—Demonstration, leveraging a stripped-back film execution to put the club’s technical story front and center. The creative eschews extraneous embellishment, instead framing the USGA rule limiting driver capacity to 460cc as an engineering gauntlet; Zambezi’s storytelling cleverly pivots on TaylorMade’s solution, carving away the sole to leave a larger face and a significantly expanded sweet spot—key design leaps distilled for both aficionados and weekend golfers with equal clarity. The film medium supports this with visual precision, articulating how pressing up against the legal limit catalyzes innovation rather than constraint, and beckoning viewers to experience those performance gains themselves via a direct call-to-action. The campaign’s reach speaks to its resonance—nearly 400,000 YouTube views mark a solid touchpoint with TaylorMade’s core demographic, reinforced by positive commentary and a surge of traffic to the dedicated M2 informational landing page. Zambezi distills technical complexity into compelling, jargon-free insight, aligning TaylorMade’s brand ethos with the league of performance-driven, rule-respecting players who look to technology for meaningful improvement. The campaign earns 64/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. For an industry where equipment claims often succumb to hyperbole or technical obfuscation, Technically Legal stands out as a model of how transparent demonstration and respect for the letter of the rules can create authentic demand for innovation.

Campaign Proposition

The New York Lottery’s 2017 “UFO” campaign, created by McCann, positions the brand as a simple, accessible form of daily excitement amid ordinary life. By framing the choice between an outlandish alien invasion scenario and the straightforward opportunity to play “Take 5,” the campaign underscores the lottery’s promise: a quick, engaging chance to win with favorable odds (1 in 9) through daily draws. This value proposition emphasizes both the thrill of possibility and the ease of participation, reinforcing the lottery as a reliably entertaining option. Strategically, the campaign taps into a cultural fascination with the extraordinary—in this case, the concept of an alien invasion—to capture attention through imaginative storytelling. It juxtaposes this high-concept narrative with a relatable call to action, encouraging viewers to shift focus from fantasy to tangible opportunity. The targeting appears broad within the U.S. gambling market, aiming to engage everyday adults by highlighting the lottery’s accessibility and relatively strong odds, positioning it as a low-barrier form of entertainment amidst more complex gambling alternatives. The creative angle leverages humor and escapism to differentiate the brand in a crowded marketplace while maintaining clarity about the product’s ease of use and regular frequency. Overall, this approach seeks to connect with consumers looking for convenient, modest-risk ways to add excitement to daily routines.

Creative Device

FORMAT#12 PARODY OR BORROWED FORMAT — Uses or parodies pop culture formats like films, shows, or genres. This campaign’s title, "UFO," and the YouTube description mentioning “fend off an alien invasion,” reveal it borrows from or parodies the classic alien invasion/sci-fi genre. Rather than telling a straightforward story or focusing primarily on problem/solution framing, the spot likely harnesses the high-drama, exaggerated conventions of sci-fi film to create humor and juxtapose the excitement of extraterrestrial peril with the everyday thrill of playing the New York Lottery. This genre subversion marks it as a clear pop culture parody aligned with the parody or borrowed format approach. ADVERTISING FORMATS EXPLAINED: https://www.clapboard.com/blog/branding-and-advertising/brand-strategy/12-advertising-creative-formats

Competitive Planks

Powerball – Market Positioning Powerball positions itself as a multi-state lottery powerhouse offering massive jackpots and widespread accessibility. Its focus is on delivering thrilling, life-changing winnings to participants nationwide, leveraging big prize draws and strong brand recognition to attract casual and serious players alike.

Mega Millions – Market Positioning Mega Millions emphasizes huge jackpot prizes with a broad geographic reach across multiple U.S. states. It differentiates through high prize visibility and exciting game formats, targeting a wide demographic by promoting the dream of instant wealth and the ease of participation.

Pennsylvania Lottery – Market Positioning The Pennsylvania Lottery focuses on community reinvestment, highlighting its role in supporting older adults and educational programs. Its positioning centers on trust, social responsibility, and local impact while providing engaging games tailored to regional preferences.

California State Lottery – Market Positioning California Lottery differentiates through its extensive game variety and digital engagement strategies. It appeals to a diverse population by promoting fun, responsible play, and innovation in lottery ticket purchasing and game accessibility, including online platforms.

Texas Lottery – Market Positioning Texas Lottery positions itself as a key contributor to public education funding, underscoring its commitment to social good. It balances wide-ranging game options with strong branding around community benefits, encouraging participation through a blend of entertainment and civic pride.