What do you think about the new Las Vegas ad?

[Serenity J. Knutson]

Thanks to Eli Gorin for providing this link on the MeCo list... This is an ad for Las Vegas that shows a news reporter commenting on empty rooms at a resort. At the end of her report, she whips off her suit jacket to reveal a bikini and jumps into a raucous pool party that has apparently been taking place out of sight of the camera lens. Check it out - it's only 30 seconds long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl_gAz5_430

Considering the current state of the meetings industry, what do you think about this advertising message?

Serenity J. Knutson, Editor in Chief
PlannerWire.com
[e-mail]

[Keith Johnston]

Short sighted and not the message Vegas wants to be sending right now. This might even be worse than their foolish mayor throwing out the first pitch with the giant martini glass and show girls. They try and preach to everyone that they are more than a party destination, that they are an amazing meetings destination and then they kill all of their hard work in 30 seconds by airing these types of commercials. They need to lay off for a bit and let the industry recover.

In fact, members of the industry should TELL them to knock it off. Our industry associations need to look away from Washington for 20 seconds and look at what we are doing to ourselves and make it clear that they don't support this type of advertising right now....

[Michelle Scott]

Ditto Keith's response! Even in better times, It was often a hard sell for some organizations to meet in Vegas or to send employees to conferences in Vegas because the assumption was that it was really all about play and not really business. Sheesh - someone executed really poor judgement on this one. Shooting oneself and the rest of us in the foot really hurts.