National Lottery launches Weekly Grand Scratchcard ads

Players of the £2 game have the chance of winning 10 top prizes of £1,000 a week for a whole year.

The new advert opens on a man sitting on a bus on his way to work. Rain is streaming down the windows of the bus. As the man stares out of the window, a fellow passenger sits in the seat next to him, squashing him in the process and forcing him to move closer to the window.

The female passenger bites into a large sandwich with gusto, eating noisily. The man is clearly not enjoying this bus ride and looks away, grabbing the rail in front of him with both hands.

The scene is suddenly transformed as we hear the familiar Scratchcard sound and a scratch effect sweeps across the screen. The man, now casually dressed, is smiling and holding on to the safety bar as he enjoys a thrilling rollercoaster ride in the sunshine. As he reaches the peak of the ride, he raises his arms aloft and screams out with joy.

The ad cuts to a shot of the rollercoaster hurtling down the track, with the man sitting right at the very front. It then cuts back to the man – still screaming with joy. The camera pulls back to reveal his fellow passenger – the woman from the bus. Still with her sandwich and drink in hand, she looks absolutely petrified.

As the rollercoaster hurtles along, her drink spills and she screams (she is clearly not a rollercoaster fan). The man glances at her and then looks straight ahead laughing. A voiceover says: “Win a grand a week for a year. The Weekly Grand Scratchcard.” The ad finishes with a close-up of the new Scratchcard with the giant rollercoaster ride in the background.

The new TV campaign breaks on Wednesday 2 July and will run until Monday 28 July. The new Scratchcard will also receive in-store support material, including Scratchcard dispenser header cards and advertising on digital media screens, throughout the duration of the campaign.

Launching the new campaign, Richard Bateson, Controller of Game Development & Scratchcards at Camelot, said: “We always see a fantastic response from players to regular payment games. Weekly Grand was a best-seller back in 2005 and we expect the new version to be just as popular this time round. The TV campaign, together with our comprehensive programme of support for National Lottery retailers, will allow us to gain maximum exposure for the game.

“With two games to play on each Scratchcard, Weekly Grand offers players a great opportunity to take their minds off life’s everyday irritants by winning an amazing £1,000 a week for an entire year – and to raise even more money for Good Causes in the process. Game innovation is key to the success of The National Lottery – our strategy for growth is based on offering a regularly-refreshed portfolio of games and convenient new ways to play.”

The campaign was created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO with media planning handled by MPG and media buying by OMD.