What happens here, stays here." That’s the apropos catch-line appearing at the end of each ad in a clever, offbeat and entertaining eight-spot Las Vegas tourism campaign directed by hungry man’s Bryan Buckley for agency R&R Partners, Las Vegas, Nev.
Perhaps the best ad in the bunch is "Mistress of Disguise," which opens on a hot-to-trot woman getting into the back of a stretch limousine for a ride to the airport. Even the street-smart chauffeur raises his eyebrow in reaction to the images in his rearview mirror and the sounds emanating from the backseat—this sex kitten is getting turned on by the smell of the limo’s leather interior. The woman briefly plays with the driver’s hair before raising the partition in the limo, leaving her backset exploits to our imaginations.
Upon arrival at the airport, the driver opens the limo door for his passenger. She has changed into a conservative business suit and is on her cell phone, talking with a proper British accent. The only clue that she’s the same woman from before is the fleeting moment she takes to sniff the chauffeur as she stuffs money into his jacket pocket.
The aforementioned tagline appears, underscoring that you can live out your fantasies in Vegas and then leave them there before returning to your ordinary life.
Unfortunately, the catch-line also applies to what happened to the ad—it was left behind and didn’t get to move onto its intended destination: the Super Bowl.
The National Football League (NFL)—not ABC-TV—refused to accept the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority commercial for the Big Game telecast. "The league office decided that the commercial was not in our best interest," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. The NFL has a longstanding policy against messages that make reference to or mention of sports betting.
Randy Snow, R&R’s VP/creative director, viewed the NFL’s rejection as hypocritical, noting that a large part of the NFL’s popularity is based on wagering throughout the country, such as in office pools, which take point spreads into account. He also noted that the NFL releases weekly injury reports, which are only of keen interest to the betting community. But most importantly, said Snow, his agency’s campaign makes no reference to gambling whatsoever. The NFL’s objection, he contended, is based only on the identity of the advertiser.
Snow related that R&R talked to three directors about the campaign—Buckley, Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks and Dante Ariola of Morton Jankel Zander. The creative director said he was elated when Buckley called to express his enthusiasm over the concept, which is all about selling the Vegas experience. "Buckley’s a rock star in our eyes," said Snow. "Just take a look at all the work he’s done on the Super Bowl in recent years."
Buckley’s high level of enthusiasm has now translated, however, into his disappointment in the NFL’s dismissal of the ad. "This is wrong on a much bigger playing field," contended Buckley. "Vegas survives off tourism—right down to all the hotel workers, the cab drivers. This is a time when tourism is down—about thirteen percent even in Vegas, with state budgets facing huge deficits. Tourism is more critical to our economy than ever."
While the campaign has gained a great deal of publicity due to the NFL’s rejection, both Snow and Buckley said the overriding goal was to air the spot during the Super Bowl. "It was the perfect target audience—huge male-dominated viewership," said Buckley.
Snow offered his own succinct tagline: "It’s simply unfair."
