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Ad of the Day

Las Vegas "Chinchilla"

Brand: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
Agency: R&R Partners
Review Date: September 10, 2009

If Chinchilli Day doesn't make it onto the calendar as an official holiday, it won't be for lack of trying by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and ad agency R&R Partners. This past spring, a commercial showed a man wangling an extra day for a jaunt to Las Vegas by telling his boss that (as a matter of "cultural obligation") he had to spend a long weekend there celebrating Chinchilli Day, marking the occasion when a band of chinchillas did something violent and dramatic in a south-of-the-border pueblo town. Now, we find a different man using Chinchilli Day to extract a Monday off from a different boss -- and with a completely different explanation of what Chinchilli Day commemorates. If the first Chinchilli Day commercial was outlandish -- and believe me, it was -- the mere fact of presenting a variation on the Chinchilli Day theme (with the chinchillas this time making their mark in France, as a furrier version of the Three Muskteers) raises the campaign to an even higher plane of outlandishness. And that's a good thing. At a time when many people are feeling beaten down in the workplace, the notion of snowing an uncongenial boss with such a ridiculous story is quite appealing, over and above the fun of going to Las Vegas. The city implicitly positions itself as the ally of the working stiff in the battle against the powers that be. In this context, a trip to Las Vegas seems like a blow for freedom as well as a fun outing. --Mark Dolliver

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Overall rating:

(2.25

) Poor

12 Comments

1. GREAT comments:

September 21, 2009

I was great the first time!
2. haha comments:

September 17, 2009

Silly. Fun. Period. Get the stick out of your ass.
3. @ WARFAB comments:

September 15, 2009

Agreed, but the spot is just another copy of it's earlier version. Probably from the same shoot. They should just use the Chilla's with a new set up.
4. WARFAB comments:

September 15, 2009

"He isn't some slacker recent college grad; he's a mature professional who has paid his dues." $10 Says SA is a baby boomer. Yet another member of the "ME" generation contributing to the gray ceiling in the workplace, collecting a sizeable paycheck while doing very little because he/she has "paid his/her dues", and expecting the younger workers to keep creating good work he can put his name on while calling them "slackers" and voting to make sure that they will continue to have social security taken out of their pay checks so he can collect his despite the fact that they'll never see a dime of it. Seriously. At a point in life you've "paid your dues" and you can then be a slacker? Do people actually believe that? Heck, does that seriously even work outside the world of politics?
5. @ why comments:

September 14, 2009

Absolutely spot on.
6. LR comments:

September 14, 2009

Maybe it is because I am in a younger age group than the employee, but I disagree with SA. I cannot see this man visiting Vegas, three day weekend or otherwise.
7. SA comments:

September 14, 2009

I agree with Why. I love the idea behind this campaign-sticking it to the man. However, I would like to see a campaign featuring various outlandish excuses rather than just one centered on Chinchilli Day. I think the element that saves this ad for me, though, is the age of the employee asking for a day off. He isn't some slacker recent college grad;he's a mature professional who has paid his dues. I think this approach appeals more to the audience that can afford the trip. And, it makes the whole effort funnier and more valid.
8. I don't know comments:

September 13, 2009

I wanna like an ad with Chinchillas, but it wasn't that funny the 1st time. Why bring it back? I applaud any agency/client that is willing to go this far out of the realm of the category, but it doesn't really work. It doesn't make me want to go to Vegas and it doesn't make me laugh. It just tries way too hard, and accomplishes nothing.
9. John comments:

September 13, 2009

funny spots well done but I wonder if they will have any effect whatsoever on the room occupancy. if people don't have the cash to spend, will an outlandish commercial make any difference? also you could put literally resort at the end of that spot and it would make as much sense. They should stick to the campaign that Jeff Candido and Jason Hoff created and so many now take credit for: What Happens Here Stays Here. That is their brand, and it is so much their brand that even when others reprise it for their own town, it is still the Vegas brand.
10. why comments:

September 11, 2009

i like the excuse strategy but why re-do the same spot? first one was good this one is the same idea crammed with more gags. kinda hacky. how about some new concepts?
11. tracy comments:

September 11, 2009

See, you can promote Las Vegas with an ad that doesn't fall back on the typical T & A campaign.
12. yyzbrian comments:

September 11, 2009

What was that about? By the middle I was already thinking about what to have for dinner.