As 2002 rolled around, Las Vegas was beginning to step back up and tourism began to increase. Comedian Don Rickles then took over the Frank Sinatra spots as a more comedic spin on the commercials.
As the Don Rickles commercials continue to run and had a comedic edge to them, R&R continued to hold focus groups and generate more ideas for new advertising campaign that would draw tourists back to the casinos. They even held a contest where locals could put in their bids for advertising ideas for the city. “We got some toe-curling stuff,” R&R Executive Vice President Rob Dondero said. “It validated our theory that people have their own preconceived notions and perceptions about Vegas and wanted to share them.”
This was the first step of the coined phrase that we all relate to Las Vegas as to copywriters Jeff Candido and Jason Hoff, began creating slogans in an effort to promote the gambling town. It was also this twentysomething pair of copywriters who came up with the idea “What Happens Here, Stays Here.”
These two copywriters pitched their ideas to their boss, Randy Snow along with many other taglines for perusal. Little by little the other phrases were knocked out until the only one that remained was theirs. Even once they decided on it they weren’t quite sure that was going to be the slogan they return to gamblers to the casinos. “We’re ad guys, so we second-guess ourselves all the time,” Snow said. “Until it’s out there, you never really know.”
As the ideas passed through the focus groups, they receive positive reinforcement that this catchphrase could be something that appeals to the masses. In another attempt to do a beta test, they placed these ads in the San Francisco shopping mall in January 2003. Their biggest concern was that their target audience of women would not enjoy the ads and would therefore not encourage them to visit Las Vegas. On the contrary, women that stop by this advertisement stated that they felt that showed the women as empowered and therefore they like the idea.
As the tagline hit the stands, USA Today consumer poll showed it as the nation’s most effective ad message. This caused the casino gambling town to beat out big names such as Coca-Cola, Campbell Soup and Miller light. It looks like we’ll be seeing these signs again soon.
