Whiff ‘n’ Win: Endorphin Branding™ the Lottery

“I’m down to my last lottery ticket,” frets Fry of Comedy Central’s animated hit Futurama, before scratching a panel of his “Whiff-n-Win” ticket and taking a sniff. “Cherry!” Another scratch, another jubilant sniff. “Cherry!” Then the final scratch and final sniff. “Mule. Crud!”

We don’t have to wait for 31st Century technology to smell our winnings (or losses). Scented lottery tickets are actually one of the more popular applications for scratch-off and scratch-and-sniff coatings. As the Whiff-Guys have preached for some time, endorphin branding™ is the use of scent as a means of imprinting a highly emotional, positive experience in tandem with a targeted signature scent, which can be reintroduced at a later time to trigger and recreate the desired response. And, as lottery officials and casino owners have known all along, few experiences in life are more emotionally charged than the sudden highs (and lows) of gambling.

Iowa was among the first to introduce scent marketing into its state lottery with its “Easy as Pie” scratch off tickets in November of 2000, treating players to the warm and fuzzy Thanksgiving scent of pumpkin pie. The success of that endeavor led to their chocolate-scented “Sweet Rewards” tickets. More recently, New Mexico hopped on board with the 2007 Christmas launch of their peppermint-scented “Candy Cane Magic” game and, just last summer, Colorado lottery officials spiced up their popular “Crossword” lottery series with “Crossword Bouquet,” “Chocolate Crossword,” and “Coffee Crossword.”

The benefits of scent technology for state lotteries are not limited to the obvious impact on consumer sales. Consider this passage from Chapter 1 of Whiff!, A Whiff of Authenticity:

“One can buy a ream of paper, a laminating machine, and a color copier most anywhere in the world. Yet reproducing a distinctly scented paper or plastic document would add a layer of difficulty to the process, and can be much more easily traceable. Where RFIDs (radio frequency identification devices) can assist in the detection of counterfeits whenever a scanner is at hand, anyone with a nose can detect the scent of deception.”