Harry Potter and the "Golden Ticket"

In the classic movie, Willie Wonka hides five golden tickets in his mass-distributed confections. The lucky children who find those tickets are then granted an all expense paid trip to Wonka's chocolate factory, where they can take part in the magic themselves.

That's one heck of a marketing campaign. Chocolate sales must have skyrocketed.

Fans of any age will scramble to live in the world of their dreams. At Hogwartz, however, there are age limits. Golden tickets? There's only two of them.

Recently, Harry Potter producers announced an open casting call for the roles of Lavender Brown and Tom Riddle. They describe the two characters thusly:

Tom Riddle is "not a warm boy, but he is very charismatic. Both staff and children are probably all a little scared of him."

Lavender Brown, who becomes Ron Weasley's first girlfriend, is a "pretty and lively girl who loves to be the center of attention [and] reacts in an extreme way to everything."

Previous acting experience is optional. As with other Potter movies, the producers are simply looking for the right fit. In the casting of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, for example, first-time actor Evanna Lynch beat out 15,000 other girls for the role of Luna Lovegood.

At Hogwartz, dreams can indeed come true - as long as you're a British teenager. To try out for the role of Tom or Lavender, potential wizards aged 15 to 18 must validate their British citizenship.

Nevertheless, in spite of the nationality and age requirements, newspapers worldwide are reporting Harry Potter's open casting call. Even if they're ineligible for the roles, Potter fans anywhere like to dream.

Even if the golden ticket is out of reach for some readers and viewers, any good marketing plan helps people to dream.