The Worst

Unfortunately, there would be no “Best (and Worst)” without some real lollapaloozas. And this year produced a treasure trove of promotions featuring bad taste, poor judgment, classic screw-ups and common-sense vanishing acts. … The crusty envelope, please!

Guns and Royals

A video poker bar (Western United States)
Sure, it’s common to have bonus promotions for hitting royal flushes on video poker machines. What’s uncommon, except evidently at this video poker bar, is to offer a pistol (yes, that kind of pistol) as the bonus. “Hit Two Royals in 30 Days, Win a Pistol!” screamed the outdoor advertising banner—complete with a drawing of not one but two revolvers. Someone ought to be shot (no, not LITERALLY).

Two Buffets or $42.9 Million?

A North American casino
It happens all the time. A slot player mistakenly thinks they have won a jackpot. But this time at this unnamed casino the lights went on, the sounds went off, and an attendant rushed over to congratulate the winner, who believed he had won $42.9 million, the machine’s top jackpot. But a few minutes later a supervisor rushed over to report it was all a mistake because the machine had malfunctioned. So how do you make it up to the customer? Why of course with the crack cocaine of casino conflict resolution—a free buffet for two. But don’t worry, the comp was later upgraded to a buffet for four when the player complained… Customer relations jackpot!

Sorry, Wrong Number

A Midwest U.S. casino
So what would you do if your casino misprinted your toll-free number and it rang into another business at all hours of the day with people asking about upcoming casino concerts? Well, if you are this winner of the Casino Golden Raspberry you’d sue the business for whom you created all the hassle with YOUR mistake. OK, OK, it’s alleged that the business owner who got all those calls, after much frustration and not adequate problem resolution, may have started answering the phone with some not so nice words about the casino (including that it “had burned down”). But suing a guy when you made the initial mistake, that’s a poopy PR award winner.

Double Offer with Typo

A Western U.S. casino
It came as a direct-mail piece screaming a benefit—”Your Free Play is Enclosed”. Inside it spoke to wanting me to come visit every week in November to “get more FREE PLAY” than I’ve ever received before. (Really, you’d say that about a chintzy offer of five bucks per week?) But wait, there’s more. The exact same direct-mail piece came the very next day with the same crappy offer, and that’s when I noticed the offer (or was it two offers?) was only good on “Monday through Thrusday” (sic). Hey, cheap offer, duplicate mailing, spelling mistake—winner, winner!

Lotteries With No Winners

An estimated half of U.S. state lotteries
Leave it to our gaming cousins in the lottery business to continue to turn gamblers into groaners. It started as an exposé in USA Today, informing readers that it wouldn’t be too wise to buy a $20 scratch-off ticket in one state lottery’s $1 million “Explosion” game because the million-dollar top prize had already been won. And the state was still selling tickets even though the top prize left available was a mere $10,000. The USA Today article went on to say that “about half of the 42 states with lotteries keep selling tickets after the top prize is no longer available.” Hey, lottery guys, you’re screwing it up for everyone.

Holiday Hokum

A Southern U.S. casino
Casino marketers all should know by now that using the word “Christmas” in casino holiday promotions and direct mail is not kosher as it might offend non-Christians (or even Christians). But no one obviously told this otherwise smart casino that you might not want to get cutesy with your holiday copy writing. So there it was (in integrated fashion, no less) the casino’s use of words and phrases like “Merry Giftmas, the Gifts Yule Love” and “O’Cashmas Tree”. … Casinos getting cute with Christmas? Throw ’em to the lions!

Casino Stimulus Package

A Western U.S. casino
You just knew that one casino was going to win a “Worst” award for bringing up the recession. Yep, there it was, in a headline-blazing brochure invitation: “$50,000 Stimulus Package! We’ve got relief for you! Exclusive by invitation only.” Complete with a cartoon character Uncle Sam, smiling and waving handfuls of greenbacks. Just what your recession-weary customers want to see—”relief” from your favorite casino if you’ll take their exclusive invitation to come in and first blow your money. … Award-worthy. No doubt.

Reprinted with permission from Casino Journal
Dennis Conrad is the president and chief strategist of Raving Consulting Company, a full service marketing company specializing in assisting gaming organizations. He can be reached at (775) 329-7864. Visit Raving’s Web site at www.ravingconsulting.com.