COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Lottery Commission is hoping that scratch-off lottery tickets just might become a new holiday gift-giving tradition, and they’re investing in a new marketing campaign just in time for the holidays.

In the latest television commercial, attendees at a family gathering embrace traditions with differing levels of enthusiasm, but, the commercial asserts: Everyone loves lottery tickets as a new tradition.

“It’s really about gaming for entertainment and becoming a part of [families’] traditions,” Sandy Lesko Mounts, deputy director of marketing communications for the Ohio Lottery Commission, told Marketing Daily in an article last week.

The ad is part of a larger campaign meant to convince consumers that lottery tickets are a gift that never goes out of style. The holiday season is an important time for lottery sales, Lesko Mounts told Marketing Daily, explaining that the seven weeks prior to Christmas account for more than 20% of the Commission’s instant ticket sales.

In addition to generating revenue, lottery sales can be a major traffic driver for convenience stores, with frequent lottery customers purchasing additional items when they purchase their lottery tickets 95% of the time. If lottery moves online, that revenue and traffic could be severely threatened. If you are worried about lottery moving online, you can make your voice heard by contacting legislators and letting them know how online lottery will affect you — their constituent. Please take two minutes to send a letter now.