Allwyn taps into ‘90s nostalgia by reviving classic National Lottery tagline
The new National Lottery operator has brought back an iconic ad campaign after 26 years.
UK.- Sometimes you have to look back to move forwards. Allwyn won the UK National Lottery licence with a pledge to modernise, but players might be feeling a sense of déjà vu this month. Just as it rolls out thousands of new National Lottery terminals across its UK retail network, the lottery operator has brought back a classic tagline from the past, and even that giant finger from the sky.
The booming “It Could Be You” advertising tagline was used by Camelot to launch the UK National Lottery over three decades ago back in November 1994. Now it’s making a comeback complete with an updated golden hand motif to promote the Lotto game, marking a return of this combination of assets for the first time in 26 years.
Allwyn, which took over the operation of the National Lottery from Camelot in February 2024 after winning the fourth licence in the Gambling Commission’s tender, is using the nostalgic assets while also featuring real Lotto millionaire winners in cameo roles. The message is “We won, and you could too!”.
Winners featured include Sarah Cockings from Newcastle who won £3,045,705 at age 21. Also featured are Chris & Geraldine Bradley from South Wales who were part of a family syndicate with grandfather, Bob, and father, Barry, and shared a £3,570,063 win in 2006. The campaign also sees an appearance from Gary MacDonald, who drove a delivery van round Lakeside Shopping Centre (Essex) before he scooped the £5,208,504 jackpot in April this year and took early retirement.
Allwyn says the campaign was inspired by a study of more than 2,500 people by The National Lottery that found that Britons would like more hope in their lives. Some 98 per cent of respondents said the nation could do with more hope, while 89 per cent said they had their fingers crossed for something good to happen. Meanwhile 53 per cent considered themselves to be lucky, and 72 per cent said they believed that being positive or hopeful can change the outcome of events.
Striking a chord with National Lottery players
Steve Parkinson, brand and marketing director at Allwyn UK said: “The original tagline ‘It Could Be You’ has always struck a chord with our players and it has never left us. We know our players still use the phrase when they buy tickets and enter the draw and there is a great amount of nostalgia attached to it.
“But there’s also a new generation of players that want those ‘what if’ magic moments that Lotto provides. People win Lotto week in, week out, and we all have a chance if we buy a ticket. We wanted to embrace that and involve some of the real winners from across the years to demonstrate that anyone can win.”
He added: “’It Could Be You’ confidently taps into The National Lottery’s history of changing lives, but it also comes at a moment where the British public have been telling us they’d love a bit of more hope in their life. We are at heart a nation of optimists who want to imagine what might be possible.
“’It Could Be You’ has always sparked people’s imaginations and underpinned the magic of winning. Since it started, Lotto has created over 3,500 millionaires and continues to offer huge jackpot prizes in every draw. We all hope and dream that it could be us one day and this campaign aims to get the nation talking about what they would do if it was them next!”
The advert was created by VCCP and Radical Media and directed by Dave Meyers, who has made music videos for the likes of Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lemar, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion. A 30-second advert made its debut on TV yesterday (Monday September 1) in a peak-time slot during Coronation Street.
Meanwhile, Allwyn has begun installing more than 30,000 Wave lottery terminals with existing retail partners. The move follows a National Lottery tech upgrade implemented at the start of August, which included a platform transition and the installation of new terminal software.
