Washington Governor Unhappy with Candy Lottery Cards - 06-21-08

June 21 - While someone over at the Washington State Lottery thought that marketing well-known candy brands on its lottery tickets was a good idea, Washington's governor, Chris Gregoire, didn't think the idea was so 'sweet' and advised the Lottery to pull the cards which it has.

Gregoire, who has a reputation for coming down hard on industries that market their wares to minors - the alcohol and tobacco industries being prime examples - was reportedly appalled when she learned that the Washington Lottery was issuing tickets with brands such as Reese's and Milk Duds.

While some of Gregoire's critics feel she shouldn't have allowed the candy tickets to be produced in the first place, she has gone on record in the past as a big opponent of lottery tickets marketed in any way, shape or form to minors. She maintains that teens 'do not understand the risks involved with gambling.'

According to a Seattle news website, earlier this week, the Washington State Lottery was 'in the process' of pulling its candy-themed lottery tickets from retailers, as well as removing a web link to a Washington Lottery page advertising the said tickets.

But it wasn't just Governor Gregoire who was up in arms about the candy. One Republican state lawmaker was so angry about the tickets, that he was planning to write a series of newspaper editorials 'raking the Washington Lottery commission over the coals' for making such a poor marketing decision.

Of the 1.9 million 'candy lottery' tickets printed, an estimated 1.3 million were sold since their launch in March this year, which means 600,000 will be returned to the Washington State Lottery and presumably destroyed.