Why every company should have a crime fiction writer on their staff.

I have mentioned a bunch of times that I have written a bunch of comic books and am always writing fiction of some kind on a quasi professional basis. This email is not about that but I do like mentioning as often as I can so maybe just maybe someone will buy some books.

What this post is about is the fact that when an ad or even just the solution is created it should really be looked at by people of different backgrounds (ie: me) because I notice weird stuff all the time.

I say this because during my extra long commute tonight I saw an ad for the Ontario Lottery Corporation. The ad was boasting about the fact that all Lottery retailer's will now be equipped with a scanner so customers can check tickets on their own to see if they won a gazillion dollars. This solution came about because there have been some public rumblings that some retailers have possibly been tricking people out of winnings (took me a couple times writing that so that it sounded PC).

SO as you can see from the AD it says "Now Checking your ticket is easier and more secure then before. Just scan your ticket at your lottery retailer and an easy-to-read LCD screen will let you know the value of your purse instantly. Also, in the future, you'll be able to check your instant scratch and win tickets too. And please, always sign the back of your lottery ticket as soon as you purchase it."

Now this is a nice ad with great copy but not only does it not solve the trust issue of retailers not paying out prizes since (and I see things differently then most) if you are going to be able to check scratch tickets with these machines then why wouldn't all the retailers just scan all the scratch tickets and keep any winners for themselves?

Doesn't exactly breed confidence and seems to escalate a problem instead of solving it.

Just so we are clear...I like the lottery folks and play every week even though I know it is a suckers tax.....I am a consumer of this product so this really jumped out at me and makes me want to be a lottery retailer.

saul