Lebanon backdrop for Tennessee Lottery commercial

Motorists traveling down Lebanon Road on Friday might have seen something unusual. Lights, screens and a lot of dogs were all around at Franklin's Market near one of the gas pumps.

The filming of a commercial touting a new instant game from the Tennessee Lottery was the cause of all the commotion.

Jay Lad had only owned the market for about a month when he was approached about allowing his store to be used in the production.

"A guy came in and asked me, and I said OK," Lad said. "We sell lottery tickets. It's a nice day, a busy day."
Rebecca Hargrove, president of the Tennessee Lottery, was on hand overseeing the production. She said it's a process to get a lottery commercial from concept to completed advertisement.

"We look at a concept and what we want to portray in an ad," she said. "It needs to have humor, fun and be lighthearted."

Then the crew looks for a good location with good camera angles.

"For a 30-second commercial, we'll be here from 6 a.m. to around 6 p.m. [Friday night]," Hargrove said. "That's just the shooting, then comes the post production, editing and special effects. This commercial has special effects."

The game being advertised is "The Multiplier," which offers lottery players the opportunity to multiply their winnings. To illustrate that concept, the lottery player in the commercial scratches off his ticket, and some of the magic dust from the scratching lands on his dog, multiplying his one mutt into many – all appearing in his tiny car.

Needless to say, the shoot required quite a few dogs of various shapes and sizes.

Hargrove anticipates the commercial will air by mid-April. She said a recent lottery commercial featuring the "cash cow" has been such a success it recently won a first place award for Middle Tennessee advertising.

"That commercial has been so popular and we've had so much feedback we're launching a instant ticket with a cow on it – a Cash Cow," she explained with a laugh.

On a more serious note, Hargrove spoke about what the lottery means for state students.

"Sales are at $2.58 billion, all to be used for education programs," she said. "Sales are up this year; we're 2.5 percent ahead of last year. We help 100,000 students every year."

Lottery 1 Photo: Mary E. Hinds • Lebanon Democrat

Assistants on the set try to get the attention of dogs in the car during a filming of a Tennessee Lottery commercial Friday in Lebanon.