Question of the Day - 01 July 2026

In yesterday's QoD, we touched on the fact that casinos in the good old days very much liked publicity photos with jackpot winners. Today, we examine the reasons -- which mostly have to do with the limited avenues for advertising that casinos had to navigate. 

For much of Las Vegas history, casinos had far fewer advertising options than they do today. In the 1950s, '60s, '70s, and even into the early '80s before Atlantic City started loosening things up a bit, a casino couldn't simply buy national TV ads the way a car company, airline, or even a tobacco brand could. The major television and radio networks and print media were extremely wary of gambling advertising; most wanted nothing to do with casinos, Las Vegas, and even Nevada.

As a result, casinos became masters of indirect advertising -- namely, publicity. The Las Vegas News Bureau photographers were the main conduit to big-time coverage of Sin City from various angles and they were very successful at it. 

Jackpot photos and newspaper stories were among the cheapest and most effective methods. The News Bureau sent countless photos and press releases to winners' hometown newspapers. Imagine being the editor of the Davenport Daily Times in 1965 and receiving a photo of local residents standing with a giant check from the Sands or Dunes. That's free local human-interest column inches for the paper and priceless advertising for a casino. 

But perhaps the single most successful marketing tool was publicity generated by celebrities. After all, casinos didn't just sell gambling; they sold glamour. When people saw photos of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., or Elvis Presley at a casino, it generated enormous free coverage. Indeed, a photograph of Sinatra playing baccarat was worth more, much more, than a paid advertisement.

By the same token, casinos could and did advertise in travel publications and convention magazines. Again, the goal wasn't the selling of gambling. The ads, instead, promoted luxury suites, fine dining, top-tier entertainment, pools under the spring, summer, and fall sun, and the like. As such, the gambling floor was often implied, rather than emphasized. A 1960s' ad for the Sands or Desert Inn generally focused on the Rat Pack, neon signs, showgirls, headlining comedians and musical acts. The casino assumed that once visitors arrived, they would find the gaming tables; they were, after all, hard to miss.

Billboards and roadside advertising were huge and had been since Harold's Club in Reno launched its national billboard campaign, "Harold's or Bust," in the 1930s. It's easy to see why. Before widespread air travel, a large share of Las Vegas visitors arrived by car. Casinos plastered highways with signs throughout California, Arizona, and the Southwest.

Direct-mail marketing, junkets, publicity stunts (million-dollar displays of cash, celebrities arriving by helicopter, showgirls appearing at airport ceremonies, etc.), and all the "Dateline Las Vegas" stories and photos filled in the advertising gaps. 

All this brings us back to why those jackpot photos mattered so much. They were among the few ways casinos could publicly exclaim, 'Yes, we sell gambling and look! Somebody won money here!" without running afoul of the advertising norms and restrictions of the era. They were essentially early versions of the "big-winner" social media posts that casinos blast out today.

Vegas was really a publicity machine disguised as a gambling town.