In Jamaica, Big Lottery Winners Get Costumes to Protect Their Identity
by twistedsifter
First introduced to Jamaica in 2009, the Super Lotto (operated by Supreme Ventures) has doled out some mega jackpots to a lucky few. Most recently, one ‘A. Campbell’ claimed his jackpot of $158.4 million Jamaican Dollars, accepting his prize in a full Scream costume.
The reasons for this are two-fold:
1. The photo opp is good marketing for the Super Lotto by showing people actually winning and driving up participation in future lotteries.
2. In Jamaica, winners can become targets for scams, robberies or even ransom. People who unexpectedly come into large sums of money are at risk of harassment, so Supreme Ventures offers all winners the option to wear a costume to help protect their identity when accepting their prize.
Like A. Campbell above, previous winners of the Super Lotto in Jamaica, as well as other Caribbean countries Supreme Ventures operates in, have elected to wear costumes. You can find a gallery of other costumed winners below.
[h/t B_rodriguezzz on reddit]
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