A 30-second commercial for a new Pennsylvania Lottery game that will begin airing in July was made right here in Northeast Philly.
The spot for the as-yet-to-be-named instant game was filmed on April 16 at the Tiffany Diner, Welsh Road and the Roosevelt Boulevard. Starting July 1, the commercial will air about 100 times in the Philadelphia television market, according to Connie Bloss, the Pennsylvania Lottery’s marketing director.
The spot will focus on a restaurant diner dreaming of what she would do if she won the big prize.
So why was the Tiffany chosen as the commercial’s location?
Accordion Films, the Penn Valley-based production company that made the spot, looked around the area and liked Tiffany because it had plenty of space for its two actors, 12 extras and 40 crew members and because the owners and staff were so accommodating, said Greg Meny, broadcast producer for MARC USA, the Lottery’s ad agency.
“We looked at several places, and this had most of the things we wanted,” said Meny.
“We use Pennsylvania crews and vendors for all our productions,” Bloss said at the diner. They also use Pennsylvania-based actors, she said.
Besides space, the crew needed time. To make a commercial that airs for just a half-minute, more than 12 hours were needed.
Most of the customers in and out of the diner during that time didn’t know exactly what was happening. A few had their own ideas.
“Some customers think it’s a wedding,” Bloss said. ••
