Designed to promote the Mega Millions Maryland Lottery, this commercial—part of a three-spot campaign from agency Eisner Communications, Baltimore—paradoxically adopts the mum’s-the-word premise that smart folk are keeping quiet about the lotto jackpots.
"Bottle" opens on an audio speaker in an elevator. But instead of music, we hear a radio station news report. The camera reveals several elevator occupants, the most prominent being a young mom in the foreground who is feeding her baby some milk from a nipple-topped bottle.
The radio newscaster reports about the latest lotto winner: "The pair came forward to claim their prize this morning and face the media. Tom Franks is an electrician who says for the time being his plan is to continue working—but only after taking a three-week vacation."
The elevator passengers go about their business, the mom lovingly smiling at her baby, who’s wrapped in a blanket. However, the mother’s expression changes to one of nervousness as the radio announcer continues, "And for the rest of us, this week’s Mega-Million jackpot is a tremendous … "
Just as he’s about to announce the size of the lotto jackpot, the mom pulls the bottle out of her baby’s mouth, causing the infant to cry, drowning out the piped in radio news report. She then gives the bottle back to her baby, having successfully kept her fellow elevator occupants from hearing the mega-dollar amount of the potential Maryland Lottery payoff.
A voiceover explains, "With a jackpot this big, you’ll want to keep it to yourself."
The spot cuts from the elevator to an end tag consisting of the "Mega-Millions" Maryland Lottery logo and the whopping size of the current lotto jackpot—$200 million.
"Bottle" is one of three similarly themed spots in the Maryland Lottery campaign. For example, in "Security Guard," a building sentry is prevented from hearing a radio report revealing the size of the upcoming lotto jackpot when a nearby janitor intentionally turns on a high-decibel floor-polishing machine at an inopportune moment.
The campaign was directed by the three-man team known as truckstop. The trio consists of Matt Pittroff, Jeff Schmale and Jason Hubert. Pittroff additionally served as executive producer, Schmale as DP and Hubert as lighting director on the job. The directorial team works out of its Truckstop Motion Picture Company, Baltimore. The Maryland Lotto campaign was line produced by Robbie Chafitz for Truckstop Motion Picture Company.
Members of the creative ensemble at Eisner Communications were creative director Steve Etzine, associate creative director/art director Mark Rosica, associate creative director/copywriter Craig Strydom and producer Mary Holland.
Truckstop’s Pittroff and Schmale edited the campaign. Online editor was Kirk Davis of Producers Video Corp., Baltimore. Colorist was Lenny Mastrandrea of Nice Shoes, New York. Rob Johnson and Ned Boyle of Producers Video Corp. served as audio mixer and sound designer, respectively.
