Let me start off by saying that I am, in general, a vehement proponent of sex and violence in the media. I have been known to publicly lament the decline in blood, gore, and breasts in horror films and will generally give my business to anything that is blatantly and resolutely immoral. Anything I can do to combat the ongoing family friendlification of America is worthwhile.
That having been said, even I was floored by the new ad campaign for the Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas. For those of you who haven't seen this (I have no idea if Vegas casinos run TV ads outside of Los Angeles), allow me to summarize.
Scene 1: A handsome male plays cards while a toothy brunette clings to him.
Handsome Man: Am I a player tonight? Definitely.
Woman smiles.
All right, so far so good. Come to our casino, play cards, and women will fall all over you. I'm with you so far.
Scene 2: Two women stand at the bar being chatted up by a guy. Conversation ends and guy disappears. The blonde turns to the brunette, bites her lip, and sensually runs her finger around the rim of her wine glass.
Blonde: Sure, I've got rules. I left 'em at home.
Whoa! Come to Vegas and fool around with members of the same sex! That's new. Did the MGM/Mirage execs sit around and say "You know, the bi-curious female market is huge. We should tap into that."? Maybe they know something I don't.
Or maybe this is supposed to be saying "Hey guys, come to Vegas and maybe you'll be able to watch some hot girl-on-girl action." That certainly seems like a much larger demographic to be tapping into with your ads. And yet, the guy who was talking to the two girls disappears pretty quickly, so the message seems to be "Hey guys, come to Vegas and get snubbed by women who are bored with heterosexuality." Not a great selling point.
Maybe I'm overthinking this. This is a very short spot, so I guess the idea is just to get everyone all worked up what with the lip biting and glass fondling and such. And, if you're curious, it ends with lots of cannons firing. Just in case the ad wasn't sexual enough.
If you're curious (or just want to see some implied girl-on-girl action) can view the movie here.
Rating: B (Muddled message, but implied girl-on-girl action has to be worth a few points)
Reviewed by Padgett Arango