For the first time in 17 years, The Venetian is using TV advertising. We’re not only impressed by the length of the abstention but also by the fact that Las Vegas Sands has done so well without the assistance of the boob tube. One of the intriguing facets of the TV spot is that it doesn’t highlight any facet of The Venetian per se, just tries to conjure up a fun vibe and equate it with Sheldon Adelson‘s signature pleasure palace. It crosses all language barriers and gets high marks for creativity. We haven’t seen anything like this since The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas‘ “Right Amount of Wrong” campaign and think this will be comparably memorable — no surprise when you consider that LVS Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Marchese came over from the Cosmo. The ad launch is targeted at major U.S. cities during the Olympic Games and will be followed with a lifestyle-magazine print campaign that will run the course of the year. Congratulations to CEO Sheldon Adelson for stepping out of Sands’ comfort zone. Does this mean those ancient, anachronistic “Funiculi, Funicula” spots can be retired from McCarran International Airport video boards?
* Speaking of the Cosmo, it won the sweepstakes to sign Absinthe, with a November debut likely … in the Rose. Rabbit. Lie. supper club, as was widely expected. John Katsilometes had the story, in his first scoop since recently defecting to Adelson’s Las Vegas Review-Journal.
* Kudos to Caesars Entertainment on reaching the 44% benchmark in its diversion of waste away from landfills and, wherever possible, into creative purposing. Some of this is done at the source: “At buffets, for example, trays are replenished on demand toward the end of the day instead of automatically,” reports HotelNewsResource.com. A lot of it is done at the loading dock, too. (Caesars’ own silverware has even found its way into the trash bin on occasion.) This company-wide effort is laudable in the extreme and, at its current pace — the company was at 37% three years ago — Caesars is well more than likely to exceed its goal of diverting 50% of all waste by 2020.
* With the job market down to seven casinos in Atlantic City, there’s been a diaspora of dealers and other casino workers to MGM National Harbor, or so MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren suggests. “It’s not going to help the underperforming 
properties, that’s for sure. What we’re seeing happen is many of the dealers and employees are applying to work at National Harbor,” Murren told CNBC. It won’t be a slam dunk, even for the most experienced Atlantic City ex-employee: MGM has a commitment to staff up National Harbor with 40% of its workforce coming from Prince George’s County. (Stick around for the highly informative — if embed-hostile — video clip, including a coded Hillary Clinton endorsement [“free trade … diversity” … you get the drift.)
It doesn’t sound as though there will be any need for the dreaded ‘soft opening,’ either. “They are literally placing slot machines on the floor already. The carpeting is down. The ceiling treatments are done … All the glazing is in. They’re not only drywalling, but painting all the guest rooms, and it really is quite spectacular,” said Murren. He added that there have been as many as 60,000 applications for National Harbor’s 4,000 jobs … a nice problem to have. He also predicts that National Harbor will be the most profitable casino outside Las Vegas, so he’s definitely feeling his oats.
