Pioneer LV advertising executive Titus dies at 77

Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2002 | 9:08 a.m.

As one of Las Vegas' top advertising executives, Paul Titus had a knack for bringing out the best in his accounts by focusing on basic -- and sometimes obvious -- things to get his message across.

When the Tropicana hotel was looking for a slogan in the late 1950s that would define its Folies Bergere revue to make it stand out from the original French show, ad agencies from across the nation submitted ideas. But it was Titus' fitting and simplistic entry that won the contract: "Viva La Difference!"

Paul Titus, who from 1970 to 1978 was advertising and marketing director at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, died Friday at his Las Vegas home. He was 77.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 27 years will be 1 p.m. Friday at Desert Memorial Cremation and Burial Society, 1111 Las Vegas Boulevard North.

"He was such a professional," said Harvey Diederich, advertising director at the Tropicana in the late 1950s. "Paul's catch phrase for our Folies Bergere production fit the French theme and conveyed our message that there were differences in the two shows, and that both shows were good."

Born June 24, 1925, in Newburyport, Mass., Titus graduated from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and was a Marine veteran of World War II. He moved to Las Vegas in 1956 and two years later was hired as advertising and publicity director for the Flamingo.

From 1959 to 1970, Titus was president of two local companies, Dirk Advertising and R.C. Hamm Advertising.

During his tenure as advertising and marketing director at the LVCVA, the annual budget for Titus' department skyrocketed from a couple hundred thousand dollars to more than $2 million.

In December 1977, Titus broadened the limits of a board-approved tourism study by $10,000 to include interviewing 800 black men and women in eight major U.S. cities to learn what they thought of Las Vegas as a potential vacation spot.

Although the information gave officials some of their first significant minority tourism data, Titus was reprimanded by the board for not getting approval to extend the study. Seven months later, he resigned.

In 1978, Titus moved to California and operated P.T. Consultants, a San Diego advertising firm. He retired in 1998 and moved back to Las Vegas.

Titus is survived by his wife, Patricia Titus of Las Vegas; three daughters, Sheila Page and Susan Ratigan, both of Las Vegas, and Vicki McCurdy of Carson City; two sons, David McCurdy and Bruce McCurdy, both of Las Vegas; 12 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.