Many of us were wishing for a visit from Lady Luck during the hysteria of last week’s mammoth $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot. Having two Lady Lucks, as we did back when North Dakota launched its state lottery in 2004, might have helped a little. On Feb. 15, 2004, The Forum reported on the selection of a new face to promote the state’s brand-new lottery. That face was Lady Luck, personified by 1978 Miss North Dakota USA Theresa J. Hoglund (now Theresa Lundberg), who carried a magic wand while wearing her daughter’s red prom dress. Hoglund’s Lady Luck, the product of a winning proposal by Fargo-based marketing firm H2M, was to be portrayed throughout North Dakota locales, exhausted, on the trail of lucky winners. Read previous editions of Throwback Thursday here But, as luck would have it, Lady Luck was already on the hunt. A similar character, also called Lady Luck, was the face of the state lottery for Virginia and had been since 1990, The Forum reported on Feb. 20, 2004. After news reports broke of North Dakota’s choice of Lady Luck, officials in Virginia weren’t pleased about this possible copyright infringement case. And they weren’t about to leave anything to chance.
“At this point we’re aware of it,” Ed Scarborough, a spokesman for the Virginia Lottery, said at the time. “The Virginia Lottery is officially concerned about it.” “We do believe we have protections,” Scarborough continued. “We have attorneys on our side who are looking at it.” H2M noticed the similarities between the two campaigns late in the creative process and members of the North Dakota Lottery were aware of the similarities during the selection process. The North Dakota attorney general’s office and an independent law firm out of Minneapolis both weighed in and figured that North Dakota could keep using Lady Luck as long as “the execution is significantly different,” H2M President Dave Hanson said at the time. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"2272380","attributes":{"alt":"Virginia's Lady Luck in the Feb. 20, 2004 issue of The Forum.","class":"media-image","height":"296","title":"Virginia's Lady Luck in the Feb. 20, 2004 issue of The Forum.","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"165"}}]]There were striking similarities, but also significant differences in how both Lady Lucks were portrayed. Virginia’s was more of a comedic character, “somewhat daffy,” North Dakota Lottery Director Chuck Keller said at the time. North Dakota’s was “more elegant, more charming, more ladylike,” he added. H2M also argued that no one can simply own Lady Luck. Much like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, Lady Luck belonged to everyone. “Lady Luck, it’s in the vernacular, it’s in the public domain,” James Ferragut, a partner of H2M, said at the time. Luck and the law were both on North Dakota’s side. As long as North Dakota took care to keep their Lady Luck distinct, Virginia wouldn’t press the issue legally, The Forum reported in March 2004. The case was also helped by the fact that lotteries are strictly limited by geography, meaning there was likely little confusion that would arise between the two. In the end, luck ran out for both states in recent years … or at least ran its course. Virginia retired its Lady Luck in 2013 and North Dakota retired its in 2014 when the state adopted a new tagline, “Imagine the Possibilities.” This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Theresa Hoglund's name.Many of us were wishing for a visit from Lady Luck during the hysteria of last week’s mammoth $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot. Having two Lady Lucks, as we did back when North Dakota launched its state lottery in 2004, might have helped a little. On Feb. 15, 2004, The Forum reported on the selection of a new face to promote the state’s brand-new lottery. That face was Lady Luck, personified by 1978 Miss North Dakota USA Theresa J. Hoglund (now Theresa Lundberg), who carried a magic wand while wearing her daughter’s red prom dress. Hoglund’s Lady Luck, the product of a winning proposal by Fargo-based marketing firm H2M, was to be portrayed throughout North Dakota locales, exhausted, on the trail of lucky winners. Read previous editions of Throwback Thursday here But, as luck would have it, Lady Luck was already on the hunt. A similar character, also called Lady Luck, was the face of the state lottery for Virginia and had been since 1990, The Forum reported on Feb. 20, 2004. After news reports broke of North Dakota’s choice of Lady Luck, officials in Virginia weren’t pleased about this possible copyright infringement case. And they weren’t about to leave anything to chance. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"2272379","attributes":{"alt":"North Dakota’s Lady Luck in the Feb. 20, 2004 issue of The Forum.","class":"media-image","height":"369","title":"North Dakota’s Lady Luck in the Feb. 20, 2004 issue of The Forum.","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"460"}}]] “At this point we’re aware of it,” Ed Scarborough, a spokesman for the Virginia Lottery, said at the time. “The Virginia Lottery is officially concerned about it.” “We do believe we have protections,” Scarborough continued. “We have attorneys on our side who are looking at it.” H2M noticed the similarities between the two campaigns late in the creative process and members of the North Dakota Lottery were aware of the similarities during the selection process. The North Dakota attorney general’s office and an independent law firm out of Minneapolis both weighed in and figured that North Dakota could keep using Lady Luck as long as “the execution is significantly different,” H2M President Dave Hanson said at the time.
There were striking similarities, but also significant differences in how both Lady Lucks were portrayed. Virginia’s was more of a comedic character, “somewhat daffy,” North Dakota Lottery Director Chuck Keller said at the time. North Dakota’s was “more elegant, more charming, more ladylike,” he added. H2M also argued that no one can simply own Lady Luck. Much like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, Lady Luck belonged to everyone. “Lady Luck, it’s in the vernacular, it’s in the public domain,” James Ferragut, a partner of H2M, said at the time. Luck and the law were both on North Dakota’s side. As long as North Dakota took care to keep their Lady Luck distinct, Virginia wouldn’t press the issue legally, The Forum reported in March 2004. The case was also helped by the fact that lotteries are strictly limited by geography, meaning there was likely little confusion that would arise between the two. In the end, luck ran out for both states in recent years … or at least ran its course. Virginia retired its Lady Luck in 2013 and North Dakota retired its in 2014 when the state adopted a new tagline, “Imagine the Possibilities.” This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Theresa Hoglund's name.
