North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) - Code Green (2023) :30 (USA)

“If you keep making that face, it’s going to freeze that way.” We’ve all heard this sage advice from our mothers. That notion becomes all-too-real in “Code Green,” the latest hilarious new spot for North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL), created by agency-of-record Cactus. The spot begins airing today.

For their 'Multiply the Cash' game, NCEL’s biggest Scratch-Off game of the year, Cactus imagines a world where mom’s worst nightmare actually comes true. Code Green takes place in a hospital overrun with winners who are in the throes of ‘celebration shock,’ frozen in a moment of celebration.

“Lottery spots that show celebrations are nothing new,” Shea Tullos, Group Creative Director at Cactus, says. “But the concept of going into Celebration Shock allowed us to create comedy by recontextualizing the win in a way we’ve never seen before.” 

Credits:

Client: North Carolina Education Lottery
Project: “Code Green”
Airdate: Feb 7, 2023

Agency: Cactus, Denver, CO
Joe Conrad: Founder & CEO
Norm Shearer: Partner & CCO
Brian Watson: Executive Creative Director
Shea Tullos: Group Creative Director
Sammie O’Sullivan: Senior Art Director
Abby Cotter: Copywriter
Paul Watson: Senior Producer
John Dobson: Account Director
Jordan Gregory: Account Supervisor
Martha Douglas: Production Director
Rian Rosado: Account Manager
Rachel Mauti: Project Manager

Production Company: Fresh Face, Venice, CA
Jonathan Zames: Director
Benjamin Kitchens: Director of Photography
Jason Botkin: Managing Director
John Gomez: Line Producer

Post Production: 11 Dollar Bill, Boulder, CO
Lisa Effres: Managing Partner
Mike Negri: Producer
Wayde Samuel: Editor/VFX
Herman Nieuwoudt: Colorist

Audio Post: Coupe Studios, Boulder, CO
Alex Hawley: Sound Designer