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Why PA Lottery's Gus the Groundhog is Marketing Genius.

  • Writer: Calan Mengel
    Calan Mengel
  • Nov 25, 2022
  • 8 min read

Gus is a perfect example of effective marketing-- what makes this advertising campaign so compelling, especially during the holiday seasons?

The PA Lottery's "Who's Feeling Festive?" campaign for 2021, featuring Gus. Posted on la fleur's website.


The holidays are right around the corner-- we just had Thanksgiving, and we're moving on to Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanza. And while the PA lottery markets all year round, the giving and receiving of Pennsylvania lottery scratch-off tickets at this time are usually higher than normal. It's the kind of gift that is easy to give and means you could leave with a bit more cash in your pocket after playing.


We've had quite the icon develop for the PA lottery-- Gus the "Spokesgroundhog". This little guy has been around for some time now and continues to serve as an economic advocate on advertisements. As someone who works in advertising, Gus's development and concept intrigued me-- this is a perfect case-study for those interested in effective marketing and communication with audiences to sell a products, specifically when personifying an animal to make him more human. So today, we take a closer look into Gus, his history, and why the advertising campaign is so successful for the state of Pennsylvania.


A 2018 holiday advertisement, featured on the Times Leader website.


A Brief Background History


For those not living in or around Pennsylvania, Gus has been the PA lottery's icon for about 16 years. He first debuted to the world in 2004, not as a CGI character like many are used to, but as a puppet.


His concept, according to Wikipedia, was created by MARC USA, a Pittsburgh-based advertising company (go Pittsburgh!). The concept was then passed to and executed by The Character Shop in 2004, the infamous creature effects company based out in LA.


He's... totally not scary at all. Photo sourced from The Character Shop's official website.


This groundhog puppet had many factors to it-- the Character Shop's website describes the structure as, "(he) has a foam body and a synthetic fur covering, but underneath he's like the Terminator, with machined aluminum joints, servomechanisms, and cables of steel!". Four operators needing to be involved at one time when making Gus come to life. Long cables were used in the making of the puppet in order for operators to be able to give him a full range of motion without completely crowding the same area.


Enjoy some more magical nightmare fuel. Photos sourced from The Character Shop's official website. More photos of the puppet creation can be found here on the Character Shop's Gus 40th celebration article.


Gus's puppet had been features on a wide range of commercials between 2004 and 2011, all throughout the year, including major holidays like Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, and Christmas.


Gus was not the only puppet groundhog helping advertise for the PA lottery-- we also got his sweet grandmother, Grandma Gus (photo below), and his blonde bomb-shell girlfriend Gabby, who debuted in 2008 (featured in the video below).


Gus and his grandma, featured on The Character Shop's website.


Diamonds and Pearls Commercial featuring Gus and Gabby. Posted by aneg32 on YouTube.


While Gus flourished for 8 years, in 2012, the PA Lottery announced that the groundhog would be retiring. Shauna McNally from WNEP 16 reported, "According to a spokesperson for the commission, Gus has served his purpose and the commission will be moving in a new direction." back when the situation unfolded. So, starting in 2012, we lost Gus, specifically because creating Gus commercials were just too expensive.


Yet due to popular demand, Gus returned to us in November of 2015, in a newer, CGI fashion, which created a small controversy (or big, it depends who you are). According to Jan Murphy's 2015 article on Penn Live Patriot News, Gus's "resurrection" had cost the lottery almost $400k, which included CGI creation and makeover, advertising costs, teaser campaigns, and re-edits of Gus in old promotions.


Not only was the money a large investment, but also, some folks were outraged that Gus would turn into a CGI character, and not continue to prosper as a puppet. People expressed their distaste in many ways, even creating a petition online to stop the dismissal of the puppet.


Either way, we did get Gus back, in full CGI, ready in action to sell the Pennsylvania public their next lottery tickets.


PA's second-most famous groundhog is back in CGI. Photo sourced from the "Gus Bucks" commercial, the first commercial introducing CGI animation, posted by Robb Del Casale on YouTube.


So, What's the Big Deal?


I feel like this is the main questions readers will have for me on this article-- what's the big deal? Why does it matter? Isn't this just some silly campaign? Gambling is bad for you anyways....


I 100% understand why you may think these things, but I can assure you, this advertising campaign is GENIUS-- through it's history and through the use of a technique called anthropomorphism.


History-wise, we can take a look at Pennsylvania's "first" famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil.


A photo of the very handsome Punxsutawney Phil. Photo sourced from PBS News Hour's post, created February of 2022.


Punxsutawney Phil is an ABSOLUTE ICON here in the state of Pennsylvania. We look to him each year to tell us how long our winter will be, or if spring will come early, all determined by his shadow.


So, making Gus to also be a groundhog was a big power move. Since many Pennsylvanians were already familiar with a groundhog "mascot" of sorts, using another groundhog to promote the lottery was an easy way to make a character that would resonate and stick with the public eye in the state.


In addition to that "second most famous groundhog" title, I'd like to add that Gus had become so popular over the years that people would comment things like this on social media (sourced specifically from some of the old lottery ads posted to YouTube):







So, as you can see, people LOVE Gus, and continued to love him through his hiatus and his return.


The main appeal, though, to marketing the usage of anthropomorphism.


Anthropomorphism is the humanizing of an animal, object, or thing, that can connect with an audience member on an emotional level, even though it is not necessarily human. We give things animated eyes, facial features and movements that resemble a human, and even limbs to give it a 'real' feel. We give them backstories, family members, or friends to further personify their beings.


And this isn't a recent advertising fad-- anthropomorphism has been happening for CENTURIES.


A late 1800's trading card advertising for soda water where we have a small family of polar bears enjoying the drink, much like humans would. Sourced from The Free Library of Philadelphia.


Think of other companies who use this approach: the CarFax Fox, the Geico Gecko, the Nesquik Bunny, Tony the Tiger, the Aflec Duck-- the list goes on. These advertising mascots are extremely popular and well-known across the globe, being used many many times in each brands campaign.


Even something like the people-like California Rasins or the Kool-Aid Man count as anthropomorphism, even though they are not animals. The characters are made to connect with humans on an emotional level, thus making them memorable and audience favorites. I mean, be honest here, which M&M character is your favorite?


The M&M Gang. Photo sourced from Morgan Sung's article on NBC News' Website.


Additionally, the "humanizing" of these characters often takes a cute and welcoming character design. Humans are naturally drawn to cute things, like animals. So, animals make for great marketing techniques-- especially when you give an animal human characteristics, such as making them anthropomorphic. We make cute characters to draw the eye and keep your attention. And in some cases, while a character isn't necessarily very cute or a little uncanny (like in Gus' puppet's case), there's still a hint of it in there.


The Pillsbury Doughboy is one of my favorite characters-- look how CUTE he is! With his little mitten hands and his little belly! Photo sourced from Pillsbury's official website.


There is a science to making anthropomorphism campaigns work, as featured on print management company Birch's website, and most of the examples I just showcased fit into the 3-step method of creation. So, to further understand why the PA Lottery's campaign works so well, let's put Gus in their place as an example.


Step 1 - Brand Persona (Personification)

Gus vacationing, having an amazing time, like most people do at some point in their life. Photo sourced from 9Rooftop's website.


Birch's article states, "Customers prefer human brands, and their stories and concepts that go far beyond the price tag. A brand’s persona must adhere to and understand the customer’s wants, needs and desires." Gus does just this, as he has been personified by his puppet (and CGI version), and because he is voiced by Robb Del Casale.


Gus is placed in real situations, often with a human counterpart, like he is part of the real living world. We see him spend time with family and spend time in the neighborhood. He goes on vacations, like featured above, and he spends time with others during the holidays, especially Christmas.


Step 2 - Brand Metaphors

Gus's signature line, "Keep on Scratchin'!". Video posted by The Mattyverse on YouTube.


Bringing metaphors into the mix can mean a variety of things, but most importantly it means giving these characters backstory and life. I think this really shows through in that Gus has family members as we talked about previously, with Gabby and Granny Gus.


We also know that Gus's catchphrase is "Keep on Scratchin'!". This reoccuring phrase reminds us of Gus's passion for the PA lottery, giving him a purpose in life and further making him human.


Step 3 - Competition

The three Louisiana Lottery ball mascots. Photo sourced from The Louisiana Lottery's official Twitter page.


While this step isn't as true for Gus, it still holds up due to a few state-competitors across the U.S. Competition refers to how brands stand out compared to the other brands selling the same goods. This can be through an interesting color scheme, a weird mascot, or an interesting tagline.


For Gus, this category is limited since there is only one advertiser per state for the lottery, but we know for a fact that any neighboring states to PA that may get some PA television broadcasting most likely know who Gus is due to the overlap in cable broadcasting (specifically in the past before streaming services rose in popularity). There are some other lottery mascots, such as the Louisiana lottery balls as shown above, but most folks in the Northeastern region of the states wouldn't know much about those mascots due to proximity, and vice versa.


In Conclusion...


The PA lottery campaign is a special kind of advertising that really stands out, and there is a lot to learn from the methods used over the course of Gus's existence for current advertisers and for those interested in video production marketing.


A cut above the rest advertisement from the official PA Lottery Twitter.




Sources

Pennsylvania Lottery's "Gus the Groundhog" Puppet Information - http://www.character-shop.com/gus.html

Keep on Scratchin': Gus the Groundhog returns to TV - https://6abc.com/pennsylvania-lottery-gus-the-groundhog/1063865/

Don’t stow your snow boots yet! Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter on PBS News Hour - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/dont-stow-your-snow-boots-yet-punxsutawney-phil-saw-his-shadow-predicting-six-more-weeks-of-winter

How to humanise your brand through anthropomorphic marketing on Birch's website - https://www.birchprint.co.uk/how-to-humanise-your-brand-through-anthropomorphic-marketing/

"The M&M’s are getting a new look to become more ‘inclusive’. People jokingly think they should be hotter" article on NBC News - https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/mms-are-getting-new-look-become-inclusive-people-jokingly-think-hotter-rcna12935

12 Times the Victorians Used Animals in Adorable Advertisements! on Dust Old Thing's website - https://dustyoldthing.com/12-victorian-animal-ads/

Tuft's Arctic Soda archived through the Free Library of Philadelphia - https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/2234

How Well do you Know the Pillsbury Doughboy on Pillsbury's website - https://www.pillsbury.com/doughboy

Bringing the Fun and Excitement of Lottery Gameplay To A New Generation article on 9Rooftops website - https://9rooftops.com/work/pennsylvania-lottery/






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