Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Wynn ad a prelude to resort’s April opening

Yes, Steve Wynn really was on top of his Wynn Las Vegas hotel when the resort's new television commercial was filmed.

"630 feet in the air," Wynn said with a laugh Monday afternoon as he described the elaborate measures taken to secure him to the top of his new hotel tower as a helicopter hovered 20 feet away from him.

"The blades were only three feet from my head," Wynn said. "I was six or eight inches above the roof, and 18 inches from the edge. The helicopter was the scary part. If the guy makes a mistake, you're instantly dead."

Wynn was securely attached by rope and web belt to a pipe hidden behind his leg, and had to climb a 15-foot ladder and negotiate a metal mesh walkway along the edge of the top of the building to get in place to film the ad from the building's highest point.

Wynn said he came up with the idea for the spot, which aired only in Nevada a couple of times during Fox's Super Bowl and postgame coverage.

The commercial showed Wynn, standing on the tower's peak, describing the hotel as the only one he's built that carries his name. The ad then notes the property's scheduled April opening before Wynn is heard asking about getting down from his perch.

"The idea was you have a big-time developer, standing astride his mighty building," Wynn said of the set-up before his self-deprecatory close. "The humor is central -- it's what saves it. I'm just another schmuck."

Wynn said the commercial will air with increasing frequency as the property gets closer to its opening, with quite a few national placements scheduled.

Until the property's lush interior is closer to completion, the tower itself is the best visual to sell the property, he said.

"The building is being recognized as one of the most stunning high rises in the world," he enthused. "But the real sexy, spectacular stuff isn't quite ready for us to show. We'll have much better stuff to show in (later advertisements)."

The commercial cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars to make, Wynn said, noting that because the ad's first filming was aborted after six takes when the sun disappeared behind clouds, costs jumped.

A couple of weeks later, in late January, Wynn did five more takes until everything was right.

Wynn said he was amused to hear from industry sources that two of his former Mirage Resorts hotels, Bellagio and the Mirage, blocked casino Super Bowl viewers from watching the Wynn spots, substituting company logos while the ads aired.

"I don't think they'll be able to block them from seeing our building," he said.

MGM Mirage spokespersons were unable to confirm the report of blocked commercials at Bellagio and the Mirage.

An executive with KVVU Channel 5, the Fox Network affiliate in Las Vegas, said there were two separate Wynn ad buys, one on the Las Vegas station and the other on Fox's Reno affiliate.

Holly Steuart, general manager of KVVU, said she didn't think the Wynn ad would fly on a national telecast in light of the National Football League's stance on gambling, but it wasn't a problem for the local audience. She noted that technically, the Wynn property is not a gaming concern yet, since the resort hasn't been licensed.

Steuart said she thinks Wynn's strategy was to reach the thousands of visitors to Las Vegas who were watching the game in addition to local residents.

"It was a fortuitous situation for us," Steuart said. "Our audience was huge. Between about 3:30 and 7:30, we had a 64 share on average (meaning that 64 percent of people watching television were viewing Channel 5) and we were strong through the post-game show, 'The Simpsons,' our new show, 'American Dad,' and a special edition of the news."

Steuart said she viewed the ad as an image launch campaign and although she had not seen the content until just before it aired, she was confident that the Wynn ad would meet the station's standards.

The first opportunity for local advertisements during the Super Bowl broadcast occurred at halftime. Steuart said one longtime car dealership client ad aired followed by the Wynn spot. The Wynn ad ran three times during the broadcast and can be viewed on the Wynn Las Vegas Web site.

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