华社广告铺天盖地 OLG彩票销售额一落千丈

“环游世界，想去就去！”

“Traveling around the world, whenever you want and wherever you want!”

在华裔社区的各种报纸上不时可以看到此类整版广告宣传。多年来，安省博彩局(OLG)为了吸引华裔移民购买彩票不惜投入大量金钱。无论是从规模、频率还是成本来看，OLG广告宣传的手笔之大在安省华人社区都是屈指可数。

A full-page ad with the popular tagline has constantly appeared in a variety of Chinese community newspapers.  Over the years, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) has spent a large amount of money trying to lure the Chinese immigrants to purchase lottery tickets. The advertising campaign seems to be one of the largest in Ontario Chinese community – in terms of scale, frequency and costs.  

买彩票其实就是赌博的一种形式，而华裔移民非常容易赌博成瘾，这一特性在加拿大是出了名的。但是抛开道德问题不谈，OLG的支持者一直声称销售彩票可以充盈省府财库，因为博彩收入带来的净收益都被用于支付安省的健保开支。

 

Lottery is a form of gambling, and the Chinese migrants are known to be more vulnerable to problem gambling across Canadian. But putting moral issues aside, OLG supporters argues that selling Lottery tickets can swell the provincial coffers, as the net incomes of the gambling revenues are passed to the province for healthcare spending. 

可是，垄断安省利润丰厚的博彩业的国营公司OLG似乎不太关心其财务收益。它过度的市场推广营销行为挥霍安省大把金钱进行，但却获得甚微乃至负面之经济收益。

But the crown corporation that monopolies the province lucrative gambling industry seems less concerned about its financial bottom line, and throw away Ontarians’ money on excessive marketing campaigns that generate little or even negative financial gains. 

OLG的过度营销由来已久。也是加国少数几个试图通过营销活动“吸引”消费者远离根本就不存在的“竞争对手”的垄断企业之一。据媒体报道，在截至2011年的五个财年里，OLG耗费近$15亿元，也就是其$310亿元总收入的4.6%用于营销推广，相当于在安省每名18岁以上成年人身上花费近$143元。

The OLG has a history of overusing marketing dollars. It is one of the few monopolies in Canada trying to use marketing campaign to “woo” consumers away from “competitors” that have never existed. According to media report, for over the five fiscal years ending 2011, the OLGs spent almost $1.5 billion, or 4.6 per cent of the $31 billion of its total revenues on marketing and promotion, which translated to about $143 per person 18 years old and over in the province. 

但是，这$15亿元营销费用带来的投资回报却少得可怜。在2007至2011年，由此产生的增收只有$5.81亿元，而进入省府财库的净收入更是只有区区$7100万元。换句话说，也就是OLG每花费$4元营销费用才带来$1元净收益。

This $1.5 billion marketing expenses have very poor return-on-investment results. It only increased revenue by $581 million from 2007 to 2011, but with net income that went to the government coffer rising only by $71 million.  In other words, for one dollar of net income, they spent four dollars on marketing.

但是，OLG的营销开支在近年来仍在继续节节攀升，而其营收却持续恶化，进一步凸显出其营销策略的失败。根据OLG最近公布的年报，Lotto Max和Lotto 6/49彩票销售量大幅下降，使安省省府收入远低于所预期额度。

But the OLG’s marketing expenses have continued to rise in recent years, while it fared even worse in revenues and income, which further amplifies the failure of its marketing strategy. According to the OLG recently released annual report, there is a sharp drop in sales of Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49 tickets, translating into lower-than-expected revenue for the Ontario government.  

在2014-15财年，安省彩票总收入较预算标准低$6210万元或6.9%，比前一财年下降$4660万元或5.3%。其中在华裔社区大力推广的Lotto Max和Lotto 6/49彩票销售额比前一财年下降了$1.675亿元或约11.9%。

For the 2014-15 fiscal year, the total lottery revenues were $62.1 million or 6.9% lower than the budget, and $46.6 million or 5.3 per cent lower than in the previous year. Sales of Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49 -which was heavily promoted in the Chinese community -- dropped $167.5 million, or about 11.9% from the previous fiscal year.  

 

彩票销售额下降亦导致OLG上缴省府的收入减少。据CBC报道，加上赌场和老虎机的收入，OLG在2014-15财年共向省府贡献$20.43亿元，比2013-14财年的$20.77亿元下降1.6%。

The declining lottery sales has caused the OLG to pay less to the government. With OLG's revenues from casinos and slots added to the lottery takings, the corporation paid $2.043 billion to the province of Ontario, down 1.6 per cent from the 2013-14 figure of $2.077 billion, according to the CBC report. 

OLG将收入下降归咎于高额彩票奖的推出频数明显减少，但这种解释显然苍白无力，对其兜售其失效的营销策略于事无补。

The OLG attribute the drop to a marked reduction in the number of higher value jackpot draws, but that flimsy explanation can hardly make its defunct marketing strategies any more acceptable. 

在彩票销售额一落千丈的同时，OLG的营销开支仍在继续攀升。根据OLG的年报，其2014-15财年的营销支出远远高于前一财年。

The sales drop has occurred at the time when the marketing costs climbed. According to the annual report, the marketing expenses surged higher in 2014-15 fiscal year than the previous year. 

随着营销开支大幅飙升，大幅OLG广告（有时甚至是双整版广告）充斥于各种社区报纸的版面根本不足为奇。这些广告甚至出现于包括于今年年初因为读者数量锐减而停刊的《世界日报》。很显然，最终为这些广告支出买单的是安省彩票消费者。

With the soaring expenses, it’s no surprise to see big OLG ads (sometimes double full-page ads) appearing all over the place in the community papers – including the World Journal that came into its demise earlier this year due to its dwindling readership.  Apparently, it is Ontarian lottery consumers who pick up the tab. 

鉴于安省政府深陷财政管理不善和过度开支丑闻，OLG理应立即检查其营销策略，停止不负责任的乱花钱行为，并采取措施加强系统透明度和问责制。

As financial mismanagement and excessively spending plague the Ontario government, it is time for the OLG to review its marketing strategies, to stop the entitlement spending and to increased its accountability and transparency to Ontarians.