Page 16 - IAV Digital Magazine #503

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Darth Vader-Cosplaying Lottery Winner In Jamaica Scores $95 Million, Could Fund New Death Star
If Darth
Vader had really won the lottery, that second Death Star
from Return of the Jedi would've
had a much quicker construc- tion. How many credits does $95 million translate to? These are the questions
inspired by Jamaican lottery winner W. Brown, who took home the jackpot last week while wear- ing a Darth Vader
costume.
According to The Gleaner, Brown bought the ticket at Di Endz Sports Bar in May Pen, Clarendon, and had usually gam- bled on the same set of numbers over the last two decades. Accepting the prize (95 million Jamaican dollars, which equals about
$650,000 in U.S. currency) dresse d as Star Wars' original villain, however, wasn't an act of super- stition, but of practicality.
The company behind the lotto, Supreme Ventures Limited, had its vice presi- dent of market- ing, communica- tion and sponsor- ship, Simone Clarke-Cooper, address the get- up, which looked more San Diego Comic-Con
than Powerball. "In other markets, they don't neces- sarily do it, but here I think they opttodoitto keep themselves safe," she told the Daily
Star. "We are not going to tell them not to do that because their safety is of para- mount impor- tance to us as well."
She added: "People have been coming with their own disguis- es. They usually don't need our help, and they are usually very creative, perhaps beyond anything that we could think of or imag- ine, and it has been very effec- tive over the years."
Last year, anoth- er Jamaican lot- tery winner (who took home 158.4 Jamaican dollars, or a little over
US$1 million) claimed the
prize wearing the iconic mask
from Scream. Identity protection is key, but so is good taste in genre pop cul- ture.
Brown, for his part, has much more attainable (and wholesome) goals than his Sith costume source. “I want to decide what is the best thing to do before spend- ing anything, he told The
Gleaner. "I need to decide what my goals are, but I know I want to own a bus, I love Coasters."
With his new windfall he
could buy himself the actual The Empire Strikes Back Vader hel- met and still have a nice chunk of change left over.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine