In
the late 80's Vegas tried a more family friendly marketing plan. Many
casinos set up areas like arcades for kids to play in while their
parents hit the slots. As a long time visitor it was disconcerting to
find ourselves on a casino floor watching cargo short wearing dads
pushing oversized strollers through the banks of machines and
blackjack tables.
When
I was a kid there was a very definite line between adult activities
and kids' presence. “Go outside and play. The adults are talking,”
was a standard refrain in my house and my parents sure were't
“swingers.” It was just very clear that some things were for
grown ups only, and they were entitled to their space. Mom, Dad and
their friends certainly weren't swinging from chandeliers, not that
we had chandeliers, but their conversations whatever they were were
things they didn't want to have to explain to us until we were
“Older.” At least that was the explanation I was always given
when I asked why all the secrecy.
Meanwhile
around 2008 Las Vegas seems to have largely abandoned the push toward
family friendly weekend stays and reverted back to showgirls and
drinks at gaming tables. Their tourist bureau started using the “What
happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” and it's been one of the most
recognizable and apparently profitable marketing campaigns ever
created. Why? Because Sin Sells. Even if Mom and Dad aren't availing
themselves of the more outre offerings of Las Vegas, they can go, be
adults with other adults and get a little naughty. She'll pack her
black lacey teddy and they'll book a nice room. They might even get a
little drunk one night and hit a show. He'll ogle the long legged
beauties in the ten foot wing span headdresses, she'll look at him as the slightly faded Lothario he still thinks he is but he's
HER Lothario. He got her after all, didn't he?
New
Orleans has also been seen for a very long time as a “naughty city”
our Tourism bureau make it look like out city is one continuous party
and many of our tourists treat her as such. Then they go home having
done some things here they'd never do at home and may never do again,
but they will always get stars in their eyes when they remember their
trip to New Orleans.
Sin
Sells. Folks can sin for a week or two on their vacations then head
home to their local churches and all will be well.
Our
current raids on local strip clubs just ahead of Mardi Gras is in my
view counter to our “Naughty City” marketing. No we're not
Bangkok but a less enlightened Amsterdam might be a viable
description. We'll never make the list of the Naughtiest Cities
except by virtue of our bar hours. And kids can't get into the clubs or bars. No ID. So no real problem.
I've
always thought one of the dumbest things New Orleans ever did was
accede to the Secretary of the Navy's prudishness and shutter and
demolish Storyville while one of the smartest things was its creation
in the first place.
This
current war against the clubs on Bourbon is a job wrecker for a city
whose population relies so heavily on service industry jobs. I know
several dancers, all but one of them are either students in college
working for tuition or single mothers. None of them are prostitutes.
They're just dancers and all of them chose it, not one was forced
into nor are any of them being held against their will. They dance
because they're good at it and the money is great, “much more than
I could ever make waiting tables.”
What
are we doing New Orleans? I know the days of Evangeline the Oyster
girl are long gone unfortunately. I would have loved to see some of
the ladies from that era. We are visited because of our history
architecture and Mardi Gras for sure but also because of our vaguely
sinful reputation. Do we want to be Dayton Ohio? Nothing against
Dayton but it's not particularly evocative is it?
I'm
also a bit concerned about the tinge of “judgment” I'm seeing
regarding the dancers and the clubs. We gonna slap a degenerate art
banner over their doors after we shutter them? And what exactly would
the city fathers prefer? More tshirt shops or do we just let the
developers come in, get some boffo tax abatement, build some luxury
timeshare condos who market themselves as the former strip club,
counting on the “naughty” to sell units? I'm just not sure what's
being accomplished by all this raiding other than to put a lot of
folks out of a job. And the timing is terrible. Not that I'd think it
a great idea at any other time but two weeks before Mardi Gras is
really really dumb.
Our
tourist bureau will I guess just come up with a tag line like “where
you drank too much in New Orleans will stay in the cloud forever! We
have cameras!” Yeah, that'll bring folks in. I'm also not saying that we should ignore folks who bring the family to our city but truth is there's not a hell of a lot of interest to most of today's 11 year olds unless they're serious history buffs. My grandson at that age was most impressed by the Lucky Dog carts. The WW2 museum was terrific for about an hour! Let's embrace our "adult entertainment" reputation. See the link below to see how really very tame we are.Places that make us look like relative Puritans
Ten
Years. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Sin Sells!
