Surprise Response
Wow! I’m surprised that almost no one else wondered about the wisdom of the “Drink Us Dry” promotion to celebrate the closing of O’Sheas Casino. I talked about this in my last blog entry and speculated that someone’s job might be on the line, perhaps even more than one.
Well, some wanted explanations of my viewpoint, so here goes:
First off, in the title of that entry, “Major Casino Goof,” the “major” describes (modifies, for you fellow English grammar experts) the goof, not the casino. O’Sheas was never a big arrow in the Harrah’s sheath.
Next, who was responsible for dreaming up this catchy phrase? Did little O’Sheas have their own marketing department? If so, did such promotions have to be okayed by someone higher up? Or, were some employees involved from higher-echelon marketing departments of the mother company, Caesars Entertainment? How many employees were involved? How many, if any, of the involved employees were going to lose their job anyway because O’Sheas was closing or, as had been announced, were being transferred to other properties?
I don’t know the answers to all those questions, but I do know that just a few hours after the original press release came out a new “corrected” one appeared with all references to “Drink Us Dry” deleted. I’m guessing someone – I assume a “higher-up” – who wasn’t in on the original marketing publicity looked at that slogan just as I had done and thought – just as I had: “My God, this is terrible PR for our company after we have been careful to always stress sensible responsible drinking. We know we should be very careful to not even give the appearance that we don’t embrace that concept.”
Maybe no one lost their job over this – but we have seen many instances in the past where casinos have blamed employees – sometimes even those very high up the corporate ladder – for seemingly small mistakes of judgment and promptly showed them the door.
I didn’t write about this because I don’t have a sense of humor – actually I think “Drink Us Dry” was a very cute and creative phrase that matched the vibe of the closing of a casino whose main claim to fame was a bar that served cheap drinks. And it didn’t “matter” to me – we don’t drink alcoholic beverages so it wasn’t going to be a must-do frugal option for us – and we had stopped playing video poker there….I forget how many years ago – although I still have fond memories of Brad and me getting 3 royals there in one day.
Why did I write about this? I just was immediately struck by the thought that this might be negative PR and I was surprised that a casino would do this. And it was interesting to me that the promotion was pulled so quickly and it reinforced my belief that someone in the company had the same thoughts I did. Not a world-shaking happening by any means. I just write about things in Vegas or about gambling that seem interesting to me.
It is always a surprise how people react – or don’t react – to my blog entries. Keeps my mornings interesting when I fire up my computer!
I totally agree, anything that could conceivably be taken as racially/ethnically/culturally insulting should be banned, wiped out, and obliterated. In fact, I favor the renaming of “blackjack,” because the name carries racial connotations. Hmmm…we can’t call it “twenty-one,” though, because that implies discrimination against minors. I know—we’ll call it “basket full of puppies”! (Ace and a face card will be called a “puppy.”)
Oh, and we’ll have to rename “craps”–at least to something like “poops.”
Honestly, Jean… I could have read that ad a thousand times, and never have reacted as you did. \Major goof\ ? \Terrible PR\? \Jobs on the line\? Any kind of \mistake in judgment\? These are just not reactions I would have had. I might have scratched my head for a while and eventually realized that it was a bit of a play on words, connected to O’Shea’s closing.
I figurerd that O’Shea was trying to get all the customers that they could before the final closing. We enjoyed our time when we were there. We wern’t big winners, but we won something. It is a shame to see is closing up!!
I have always loved O’Sheas…so small…but so cute…We tried to drop in whenever we were on the Strip…But now..we stay downtown.all the time..They have everything you need and much more…Such great dealers and we are even known by name!!…Now, that is just the greatest….Sure love your coumn..and look forward to reading it…
The last sentence of my previous post is intended for your other readers. I have known previous to your posting it that you and Brad don’t drink alcohol, but they probably have plenty of diet sodas and juices to get rid of as well. Never really played at the O’Shea, but sure did like seeing the people out front and it will be interesting to see the new attraction/mall area they are going to build. There is going to be some type of big Ferris Wheel built at the back of it.
I took the slogan as “Help us get rid of our alcohol, we are closing”, not as “Drink here until you are completely impaired and then drive home.” I see nothing wrong with the slogan. It is up to each legal age drinker to determine how much or how little to drink, knowing their limits in regards to either operating an automobile or stumbling around the strip (which hopefully they don’t do). Casino bartenders are pretty good about cutting off folks that are extremely intoxicated. Heck, stop by, have a couple low priced drinks and help the O’Shea’s get rid of their stock.
Jean, you’re probably correct about the \corporate\ image thing. However, the slogan certainly didn’t bother me and evidently didn’t bother your readers. I would really hate to see someone fired over such a small thing. I’ve seen/read much worse in casino/bar advertisements. The only negative I can imagine, IF the casino were not closing, is a response from the Nevada Alcoholic Beverage Commission which might not take the ad very lightly.