The National Lottery - Pockets / The Couple (2023) :90 (UK)

A young man named Edward meets another young man's eye at the local pub. It's November 1994 and the first National Lottery draw. Eddie has a bad habit of dropping his back-pocket lottery ticket, and Isaac gives it back to him, telling him "You dropped this". Eddie may not have won on the lottery that night, but the glances reveal that he did win at love.

Soon we find ourselves watching as their relationship evolves, with Eddie of them constantly dropping his lottery ticket, and Isaac always saving it for him. They go to music festivals, new years parties, move in together, fight about getting married. Then they get married, grow older, and then one day... The numbers he always plays are read out on TV. But he can't find the ticket. And as always, Isaac, his now husband, has saved his ticket that keeps falling out of his pocket once again.

To ensure the "accurate portrayal of gay men from the 1990s to the current day", Adam&EveDDB collaborated with the cultural research agency On Road.

It's a nice story, but the "it could be you" showing someone playing the same number for decades isn't really enticing me to play. It makes me wonder how much money he spent on the lottery over the years.

Ad agency: Adam&EveDDB

Director: Tom Hooper
Production: Smuggler
Post-production: Framestore, Whitehouse Post