Las Vegas Another Planet

Planet Hollywood Has Landed

You hear about product placement in movies. A Coke sits subtlely on a tabletop. In "Back To The Future" Marty McFly is called Calvin because of his Calvin Klein underwear and orders a Tab. Cars, laptops, video games, ad infinitum (pun intended). Well, the mother of all ad placements took place in the former Aladdin that recently reopened as Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Some 3,000 HDTV Panasonic plasmas appear throughout the resort - and we mean throughout, not just the obligatory TV in the bedroom.

Panasonics can be seen displayed in the casinos atop banks of slots, in restaurants, and liberally sprinkled throughout the property in all shapes and sizes. Nearly three dozen 65 inch models sit above the bar. Some normal size plasmas are offered in regular room but the suites have more and larger ones including a gigantic 103 inch in a grand suite - reported to be the largest screen available.

The marketing deal between Panasonic and Planet Hollywood includes more than plasma television screens. Anything electronic that sports Panasonic's brand can be found in the hotel. Want to pop some jiffy popcorn? Use a Panasonic microwave. Do a little cleanup? Panasonic vacuum sweepers. The company even provides laptops and batteries to the hotel.

Why the branding and why Las Vegas? Duh. Branding is one of the most effective forms of advertisement and the longest lasting. Say Las Vegas and certain brand names come to mind - Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, and others. When those brands are discussed by consumers it is done for free. And as they say in the advertising biz, "Free Advertising is the best advertising money can buy."

Las Vegas is known for the best nightclubs, the best restaurants, hotel casinos, and most action of anywhere else on earth. It is the scene to be seen. Conventions and sporting events bring international viewership. Las Vegas is where it all happens.

So the next time you want so see a Ferrari dealership in a hotel, think Wynn, or a volcano along a busy street think Mirage, or a live fight between pirate ships think TI (that's Treasure Island for the uninitiated), or if you want to see 3,000 Panasonic HDTVs, think not only outside the box, but out of the world - Planet Hollywood.

Dr. Forgot