In a story that has only one obvious typo–nice work, editors!–we learn that, if you give people something besides warmed-over singers and comics in your showrooms, you can actually attract new people to Atlantic City casinos. Outstanding! From the AC Press:
Casino shows used to feature aging crooners and old comics like Henny Youngman, who peddled ancient jokes like, “Take my wife. Please.”
More recently, national celebrities – such as Dr. Oz, Giada DeLaurentis and Guy Fieri – are coming to town.
“What we’re trying to do in Atlantic City is really differentiate ourselves,” said Jennifer Weissman, regional vice president of marketing for Harrah’s Entertainment, especially since Pennsylvania slot parlors started pulling Philadelphia customers.
So casinos now feature lifestyle celebrities – people who will coach you about everything from the food you eat to the clothes you wear and the relationship you’re in.
“It gives greater, more diverse reasons to visit Atlantic City. We want to change the mind-set of someone who has never come to Atlantic City,” Weissman said.
And it seems to be working.
Customers filled showrooms for a “Food and Wine Spectacular” at the four Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. casinos this weekend.
It’s nice that someone’s on the ball over there. If you’re wondering about the typo, it’s not that big a deal–they just got the one of the most recognizable brand names in the world wrong in a particularly embarrassing way. No, they didn’t call it “Caesar’s Atlantic City,” which is an interesting idea, but actually is grammatically correct, though it violates the standard apostrophe-less usage. They called it “Caesers.” Ugg,
Also, I’m a little surprised that the Press’s editors assume that all of their readers know who “Dr. Oz” is and why he’s a celebrity. Personally, I had no idea who he was, but a quick google revealed that he’s a cardiologist who’s been on Oprah and spreads the revolutionary message that people should be “take charge of their health” or something like that. If he can get people to push away from the buffet without hitting max bet on the prime rib, maybe he really is America’s Greatest Doctor.
There’s a little bit of irony in a casino hosting an event where the speaker tells you how to get healthy because when you look at it critically, casinos can be very unhealthful places: rich food, free-flowing alcohol, second-hand smoke (oops! not in Atlantic City anymore), and lots of sedentary recreation. I guess you could argue that the adrenaline rush of gambling speeds your pulse and is somehow exercise, but you could say the same thing about getting mugged.
I know the above paragraph is laden with casino stereotypes–I may get an angry email or two reminding me about all of the “healthy alternatives” in casino restaurants and the impressive exercise facilities available. But I think that in this case, these stereotypes are rooted in reality. As always, though, I’m happy to hear evidence to the contrary.