Ithuba’s Lotto ads ruffle consumer feathers

Source: www.unsplash.com

New prize structure

The case centred on Ithuba’s television commercial and an accompanying post on X, both of which promoted the Lotto’s updated number pool and new prize structure. The ads claimed “more balls to choose”, “better odds”, “4× more chances to win”, and “more numbers to choose from… that’s better overall odds”.

Two consumers argued that these claims were deceptive. They said that adding more numbers mathematically decreases the chances of winning major prizes, and that the advertisements implied the opposite.

Ithuba argued that its claims referred to “overall odds”, meaning the statistical chance of winning any prize, not the jackpot. It said these odds improved significantly after introducing the new Match-2 prize tier, which allows players to win small prizes more often. The company stated that the odds of winning any prize shifted from 1 in 38.2 to 1 in 9.61, resulting in roughly four times more winners. To support this, Ithuba provided figures showing a sharp rise in average winners per draw across Lotto, Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 in the ten draws following the update.

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While the ARB accepted that the Match-2 tier legitimately improves the odds of winning something, it found that the advertising conflated this improvement with the increased number pool, without explaining the distinction. According to the ruling, the ads created an impression that the additional numbers themselves improved a player’s chances, which is not true.

Lack of knowledge

The Directorate said the ads risked exploiting consumers’ lack of mathematical knowledge, especially in a diverse market with varying levels of literacy. It also noted that although the chance of winning any prize may have improved, the odds of winning the jackpot — the core aim for most players — had actually worsened.

As a result, the ARB ruled that the adverts violated clauses on honesty, responsibility, and misleading claims. Ithuba has been instructed to remove or revise any advertising suggesting that adding more numbers has improved the odds of winning the Lotto.