Category Archives: Marketing

Paging Estée Lauder …

Posted on January 26, 2010 by David McKee

“Back to Vegas … just how would one combine hotel room disinfectant, smoke, glittery exotic dancer lotion, rental car upholstery cleaner and buffet food into a pleasant cologne? For authenticity, you’d also need an injection of White Shoulders that has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Marketing, Tourism | Comments Off

Planet Ho abdicates to Harrah’s

Posted on January 15, 2010 by David McKee

Sheraton Operating Corp. is bugging out of Planet Hollywood Resort — which has already lost some of its top management — and handing the keys to Harrah’s Entertainment. The latter will have something of a challenge filling the nearly 2,500 … Continue reading →

Posted in Carl Icahn, CityCenter, Cosmopolitan, Current, Economy, Fontainebleau, Harrah's, International, Marketing, Penn National, Planet Hollywood, The Strip, Wall Street | 4 Comments

Seen last night …

Posted on January 14, 2010 by David McKee

… on Tropicana Avenue: A pickup trick carrying two men and four sheep. Don’t worry; it’s probably just the latest chapter in the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority‘s “Whatever Happens Here …” campaign.

Posted in Current, Entertainment, LVCVA, Marketing | 4 Comments

That casino smell

Posted on January 11, 2010 by David McKee

As you step through the front doors of Aria‘s check-in foyer, a too-heavy musk is jammed up your nostrils. It smells like the same suffocating attar that’s employed in Venelazzo, except maybe heavier. The good news is that if you … Continue reading →

Posted in Archon Corp., Atlantic City, Baseball, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Florida, Harry Reid, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Politics, Sheldon Adelson, Sports | 4 Comments

I’m not a prude but …

Posted on December 21, 2009 by David McKee

… 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip | 14 Comments

Case Bets: Pinnacle, Macao, Sahara & Mirage

Posted on December 15, 2009 by David McKee

No trouble in River City: The opening of Pinnacle Entertainment‘s River City casino complex has leapt forward from May to March. Bully for Pinnacle, if this means that the project is going to be finished ahead of schedule. If this … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, CityCenter, Current, Dining, Economy, Entertainment, Herbst Gaming, Louisiana, Macau, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Missouri, Pinnacle Entertainment, Sahara, Sheldon Adelson, Stanley Ho, The Strip | 4 Comments

Torrents of Greed

Posted on December 14, 2009 by David McKee

A few random musings … MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren can wax eloquent on the subject of sustainable development but I suspect that any pensées he might have offered Dubai World on the subject would have been pearls before swine. … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, CityCenter, Current, Dubai, Economy, Encore, Entertainment, Environment, Harrah's, International, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip, Wall Street | 2 Comments

Douchebags-R-Us

Posted on December 8, 2009 by David McKee

If you have a closetful of Ed Hardy apparel and fancy the lifestyle of a pimp, The Palms wants your business … Of course, ever since George Maloof introduced his garish Fantasy Suites, The Palms has been pushing the envelope … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, George Maloof, Marketing, TV | 1 Comment

Best Casino Commercial Ever

Posted on December 3, 2009 by David McKee

It seems like if you’ve seen one casino commercial, you’ve seen them all. Recent efforts by M Resort and Green Valley Ranch were state-of-the-art examples of the same old same-old. However, it was impossible not to be stopped in one’s … Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Tourism, Transportation, TV | 4 Comments

Aria, Vdara discounting already

Posted on December 3, 2009 by David McKee

In its discussions with J.P. Morgan analysts, MGM Mirage has regularly been boasting that Aria’s room rates are running higher (very, very slightly higher) than Bellagio. Being a skeptical fellow by nature, my instinct was that Aria was being propped … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Boulder Strip, Boyd Gaming, Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Columbia Sussex, Current, Downtown, Economy, Entertainment, George Maloof, Harrah's, Herbst Gaming, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, Silverton, Station Casinos, Steve Wynn, Tamares Group, The Strip, Tourism | 6 Comments

Chutzpah, thy name is Loveman

Posted on December 1, 2009 by David McKee

Do the bondholders of Harrah’s Entertainment ever get tired of being played for suckers? After being asked to take haircut after haircut — whether in the form of distressed buybacks or deferred repayment — comes a new indignity. While Harrah’s … Continue reading →

Posted in CityCenter, Current, Downtown, Economy, Harrah's, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Mississippi, Planet Hollywood, Regulation, The Strip, Wall Street | 4 Comments

Commercial of the Month

Posted on November 20, 2009 by David McKee

Although Gr88.com has endured some S&G razzing of late, this gloss on 300 gave me a chuckle. Its only arguable drawback is that its “Leonidas” is no Gerard Butler, as I’m sure the ladies in our readership will concur.

Posted in International, Internet gambling, Marketing, Movies | Comments Off

Case Bets: Ensign, Angelica Bridges & the smell of Vegas

Posted on November 20, 2009 by David McKee

Look for ex-Mandalay Resort Group boss Mike Ensign to play a supporting role in Nightline‘s Nov. 23 exposé of, among other things, the 96 dimes in hush money he channeled to the cuckolded husband of his son’s mistress. You’ve got … Continue reading →

Posted in California, Colony Capital, Colorado, Current, Economy, Entertainment, Isle of Capri, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip | 4 Comments

Station vs. Richfield; Operation Showgirl; The Wayner, etc.

Posted on November 12, 2009 by David McKee

What made 130+ houses (and a clutch of apartment buildings) behind Palace Station so important that Station Casinos — currently busy sweating video poker play — was paying three and four times market value during a period when the Las … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Archon Corp., Current, Economy, Harrah's, Harry Reid, Marketing, Politics, Station Casinos, TV | 8 Comments

Case Bets: Strippers, Tomlin & no water in Macao

Posted on November 11, 2009 by David McKee

Being still deeply enmeshed in CityCenter-related materials (Kirvin Doak must be getting paid by the word, judging from the plethora of press releases it’s generated), I have to be a hit-and-run blogger today. Can’t go to the strip club? No … Continue reading →

Posted in Current, Entertainment, Environment, Harrah's, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau, Marketing, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Mirage, Sheldon Adelson, The Strip, Tourism, TV | Comments Off

Use found for The Harmon

Posted on November 8, 2009 by David McKee

Yes, “Dubai’s Diminuendo,” the “Harmonini,” Baldwin’s Bump, whatever you want to call it, has been given a purpose in life. Strip hotel guests awoke in the wee hours of Saturday morning to behold the following: If nothing else, the truncated … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Cirque du Soleil, CityCenter, Current, Entertainment, Marketing, MGM Mirage, The Strip | 1 Comment

Best idea of the week … or year

Posted on November 6, 2009 by David McKee

From our Today’s News feed: “Until now, MGM Mirage exercised a policy of having each property in the group compete with the others, as if they were totally independent competing entities. It was a strategy designed to keep salespeople ‘on … Continue reading →

Posted in California, CityCenter, Current, Economy, Entertainment, Environment, Harrah's, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Ohio, Penn National, Plaza, Steve Wynn | 2 Comments

Steve Wynn drinks his own bathwater

Posted on November 3, 2009 by David McKee

I’ll confess to having been sufficiently out of touch not to have heard about the “Wynncore” parody site on which blogger Chuck Monster was laboring. Anybody who’s used the sluggish Wynn Resorts Web site will appreciate the home page (“Loading … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Yemenidjian, Current, Economy, Encore, G2E, Marketing, Mississippi, Steve Wynn, Technology, The Strip, Transportation, Tropicana Entertainment, TV | 5 Comments

Dark days for the clown house?

Posted on November 2, 2009 by David McKee

During all the economic Sturm und Drang of the last two years, MGM Mirage has — to its great credit — not been shy about offering comps, discounts and promotions to keep people coming back. However, its latest promotional allowances … Continue reading →

Posted in Boyd Gaming, Current, Economy, Fontainebleau, Marketing, MGM Mirage, Riviera, The Strip, Tourism | 1 Comment

Case Bets: Pinnacle, Pennsylvania, Harrah’s & Sands

Posted on October 30, 2009 by David McKee

Third quarter at PNK: 3Q09 numbers are out for Pinnacle Entertainment and the comparisons cover the spectrum from very good (Lumiere Place up 19%), good (+5% at L’Auberge du Lac) and lousy (-13% aboard Boomtown New Orleans). Once a free-spending … Continue reading →

Posted in Ameristar, Atlantic City, Current, Detroit, Economy, Harrah's, Louisiana, Macau, Marketing, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Pinnacle Entertainment, Problem gambling, Sheldon Adelson, Taxes, Tribal, Wall Street | 2 Comments