Ambiguous ad wraps Luxor in mystique

Justin M. Bowen

The new ad on the side of the Luxor is modeled after a camera screen, with a recording light at the top and the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign focused in the center of the frame.

By Amanda Finnegan (contact)

Saturday, March 21, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The Luxor Wrap

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Luxor

The black pyramid of the Luxor, already unique among the over-the-top Strip resorts, got even more interesting this week with a new ad that left many scratching their heads, wondering, "What the heck is that sign on the Luxor?"

And that's exactly the reaction they wanted.

The new ad by Sky Tag, a building-wrap design firm, is modeled after a camera screen, with a recording light at the top and the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign focused in the center of the frame. The ads are featured on both the west and south sides of the pyramid for optimum visibility, executives said.

The Luxor has adorned itself with more direct ad campaigns in the past, like those for Criss Angel's Cirque du Soleil show "Believe" and a campaign for Absolut Vodka, but this one was aimed at getting people to think a little harder, Luxor vice president of marketing Brad Goldberg said.

From a distance, the image is hard to make out. As motorists or pedestrians get closer, the image comes into focus … but still leaves room for curiosity.

The ad is two-fold, Goldberg said.

"We call this our 'focus campaign' with the goal being to drive people's focus and attention on Luxor and Las Vegas," he said. "As a city, we're trying to create more interest and excitement about coming to Las Vegas and Luxor as a property.

"We're also trying to get people to focus their attention on us."

Goldberg said the idea, which was developed by Luxor advertising executives and partner Sky Tag, came at a time when passenger counts and visitor numbers have hit lows in Las Vegas.

"Now more than ever, we're trying to get people to think about taking a break and to get away from the stress they may be encountering. We want to get them to thinking about Las Vegas as a primary and economical vacation and business destination," Goldberg said.

Goldberg said the ad has accomplished the goal of getting people to look at the Luxor and has sparked questions from tourists and locals alike.

"We didn't want to make it overly obvious. I think what it did was got people thinking, 'What is this all about? What am I focusing on? Why am I supposed to be looking through a camera here?' I think it was a done in a way that has generated a lot of attention," he said.

Well, Luxor, you got our attention.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By Harley

3/21/09 at 2:32 p.m.

Suggest removal

Appears to be graffiti from my point of view.
By azsk8fan

3/22/09 at 8:15 a.m.

Suggest removal

It's very ugly and distracting from the beauty of the building. Please remove it.
By nightmare

3/22/09 at 8:56 p.m.

Suggest removal

I agree its ugly and distracting, and also pointless to have an ad that is so obscure.
By jtrudeau

3/23/09 at 12:35 p.m.

Suggest removal

I can't understand why these casinos build these beautiful and expensive hotels and destroy them by wraping these extremely ugly banners on them.
By teambeam

3/24/09 at 6:38 p.m.

Suggest removal

ditto