Letter: ‘What happens here’ ad is irresponsible

Sunday, April 16, 2006 | 7:32 a.m.

Jack Sheehan asserts in his April 9 column in the Las Vegas Sun that radio talk show hosts, travel writers and others have misconceptions about Las Vegas because, in his words, our city "offers a constant threat to their way of life."

I agree with Mr. Sheehan that many people tend to "sneer" at Las Vegas, but I believe that it's not because they're jealous of the fun we're having or because of our robust economy or even our spectacular weather. It's because (using modern marketing techniques) we insist on reinforcing their belief that we're nothing but a sin-filled city, a place where you can do whatever you like, without consequences.

The most prominent example of Las Vegas' "official" marketing stance is the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's current slogan, "What happens here, stays here," which, by the way, is just a re-working of an old traveling salesman line, "What happens on the road stays on the road."

This much-celebrated slogan celebrates a dangerous mind-set; that one can compartmentalize behaviors so that risky, immoral ones like promiscuous sex and alcohol and drug abuse won't "count" because they took place in a strange city. Such rationalization never works. It didn't work for the traveling salesmen of yore. It won't work for our city's visitors, either.

Playing an easily strummed chord like "What happens here ..." is not only an uncreative and simplistic answer to a complex marketing challenge, but it's also an irresponsible one. Those charged with establishing a worldwide image for our superb city should consider the human impact that their words have.

Dale W. Davidson, Las Vegas

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