… doesn’t this push the envelope a bit far, even by Vegas standards? After all, a long time ago (i.e., pre-AIDS), “bathhouse” had but one connotation and not an especially sanitary one. So this ad for Mandalay Bay, tacitly promoting casual hookups in imagery that is (to say the least) overtly homoerotic, arrives as something of a shock.
Or is it that we’re so inured to a barrage of marketing messages that, for decades, have promoted a pretty jaded and debauched notion of heterosexuality — reinforced by the dissolute nightclub and pool-party cultures — that our senses are dulled toward hetero-centric advertising campaigns with subtle messages like, “Get ready to buck all night”? But when an ad blindsides us out of left field like this, one’s long-dormant sense of moral approval opprobrium is abruptly reawakened.
The sundry bacchanalia and saturnalia of Las Vegas should represent equal-opportunity dissipation. Besides, isn’t it hypocritical to tut-tut when the “What happens here” genre of marketing is repositioned to include our gay siblings? Clearly it is. But does the Mandalay Bay ad go too far in attempting to redress a historic imbalance? Wiser heads than mine will have to render that verdict.
Bathhouse ad:
Curious – Where did you find the ad? Was it maybe run in a publication with mostly gay readers? (I can’t imagine it being plastered on a billboard or building.)
‘Course it’s possible whoever approved it just didn’t put the visual elements together & see the “story” that others would read into the ad… It’s happened before.
[By the way, I appreciate that the “Captchas” use real words; I smile when I have to type in the words like “Christopher Hardily”, and wonder what he hardily does or doesn’t do!]
I’m not sure where this ad was discovered. Somebody posted it on their Flickr or Twitpic page (I don’t remember which), then Tweeted about it. Through the miracle of re-Tweeting, it found its way to my attention.
David,
Your points are well taken, but:
1. When has Las Vegas or any of its “marketeer” pimps (so very much more than just the common marketer) ever given much of a damn about anything approaching shame, propriety or taste?
One of the main pillars, if you will, of Vegas’ appeal is its promise of sexual gratification; these ads are the natural evolution of concepts and principles developed and honed by the fathers of advertising. Men like Lasker or Ogilvy.
2. Don’t marketeers and the shit they peddle for truth already get enough attention as it is? I mean, how many more hookups do you really believe this ad will help launch?
Vegas is the nation’s dirty whore, probably always will be. And as long as that fact remains, our marketing campaigns will reflect that reality.
Interesting post and discussion. I’m not sure what to think here, I see your point David, but I try to stay balanced with things, and even as a heterosexual male, some of the nightclub ads are pretty suggestive. So I don’t know that I’m so surprised by this one. To me it’s only the left hand panel that’s any discussion point anyway, and while it has it’s homoerotic imagery, is it really that bad, or is it due to the fact that it’s essentially nude men?
I guess after being bombarded with ads, where guys have their hands just about up the women’s dress, I’m not that shocked by this.
Dave:
I think you need to verify that this is a genuine ad publshed by Mandalay Bay and not an “unauthorized” photoshop. The picture on the right with the man in the pool is from the Mandalay website. The image on the left seems to be tacked on.
I would be very surprised if the Mandalay Bay is behind this ad, even for publication in predominantly gay-oriented media. The connotations associated homoerotic imagery and “bath house” are probably not that appealing to the majority of potential spa customers (gay or straight).
I should have googled more before posting. Looks like it is a Mandalay Bay ad. Strikes me as a risky direction to go.
Chuck, if it’s a fake, then I salute the satirist’s creativity. Many professional ad agencies can’t do better.
Jinx, the more I think about it, the more I agree with you. We’ve grown so jaded to heteronormative ad messages that are every bit as racy that simply standing aforesaid norm on its head produces a momentary shock … but just seems like fair play, “upon further review.”
What if they had put a woman in the whirlpool tub? Would you have even brought up the subject then?
The answer is both.
Honestly, I’m fatigued by near-nudity thanks to Vegas. I load up the frontpage of the LV Weekly, an otherwise good read, and am immediately blasted with about four or five shots of cleavage, sideboob, etc. I would like to see more casino advertising with clothes on, to be honest.
Yes, Vegas was always risqué, but what was socially considered risky has changed considerably since the 50s. People complaining about Stripplermobile being cancelled, making the “don’t they know what town this is” gripes, don’t understand that when the mob ran Vegas society was much more up-tight, so Old Vegas didn’t really do that. Old Vegas maybe (definitely?) had escorts, but they didn’t advertise themselves on mobile billboards.
So yes, some members of the hetero majority will feel a bit off when presented with something this queer, and that feeling will be amplified even more so if you live in the bubble of Vegas, where breast enlargement surgery can be advertised in 40 foot tall letters (with appropriate pictures) and you have learned to not blink.
But, that ad definitely has problems.
Regardless of the name BathHouse, the fact is that “cruising” for sex in male spas isn’t exactly uncommon, but ought be frowned upon. A cruising site once falsely listed the Luxor steam room as a den of gay sex, and someone I know who worked at Luxor as a guard in the late 90s and early 00s has told me stories of time after time being called to the steam room to pull out a gay who is trying to get some.
Let’s face it, there’s a reason these spas divide genders, not just modesty. My guess is that Mandalay security probably isn’t thrilled if this ad actually exists.
I saw a similar ad in this month’s Instinct Magazine which ia a monthly glossy magazine for gay men. It did raise my very jaded eyebrow, not for the visual but for the use of the word “bathhouse” in add. Not what one would expect from a non-gay establishment such as THE hotel.
As a gay man, I don’t have a problem with the use. I just thought it was provocative, and, perhaps, they were advertising more than they could deliver. However, that is only standard issue tease for Las Vegas, so I guess it should not be surprising.
Dave B, you are absolutely right — and that’s part of the “teaching moment” I’m experiencing this week. Although I suppose if the ad showed *three* naked women and (again) implied the BathHouse was a venue for same-sex hookups, I might have said something. Vegas advertising is rife with threesomes … but there’s always a guy [i.e., Mr. Target Demographic] involved.
I don’t want to belabor this topic, but it strikes me that there is no heterosexual equivalent to a gay bath house. If the ad is intended to imply that the activbities that occur in a gay bath house could potentially occur in the TheHotel’s “bathhouse” spa then I would say that the ad goes way beyond a “teaching” moment and most likely would alienate or offend a large portion of the MB’s clientele.
Well the have made sure that I will never step foot in the Mandalay bay again. What a shame that they feel they need to go after the queer crowd.
What normal person would want to step foot in to that pool of disease.
it’s a real ad. saw it many times at gay.com.