How Lucky is a Lucky Dip?

Two of my numbers came up on the lottery last week, which meant I was entitled to a Lucky Dip. A Lucky Dip is a free lottery ticket with randomly selected numbers which goes into the following week’s draw.

I checked mine today and, as expected, it didn’t win. But then I read the little slip they give you with it. It boasted of how lucky I am to get a Lucky Dip, and how there have been 6 million winners of Lucky Dips this week. Winners of what? Free lottery tickets that don’t win anything?

You know, even a well practiced cynic like me sometimes finds the sheer dishonesty of the marketing system quite mind-boggling at times. Did I ever mention toothpaste ads? They’re the best. I think I did.