1. Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it? Why?

This is a print advertisement for Route 66 Casino Hotel. The advertisement was created by Concussion LLP, an advertising, marketing, and design firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. The ad was paid for by Laguna Development Corporation, which is owned by the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico.  The ad was created to attract business to the Route 66 casino.

2. Who is the “target audience”? What is their age, ethnicity, class, profession, interests, etc.? What words, images or sounds suggest this?

Considering the highly sexual overtone of the advertisement (an attractive, young female and the usage of the cherry pie theme), coupled with the offer of “free play” and the use of bright lights images for the word KICKS, I would argue that the possible audience is a young, straight, adult male.

This is a regional advertisement, presumably meant to attract possible gamblers from the “Four Corners” area, which includes New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. The casino is located off Interstate-40, just west of the Greater Albuquerque area in NM, and is a major east-west roadway in the United States, serving as an attraction for drivers.

3. What is the “text” of the message? (What we actually see and/or hear: written or spoken words, photos, drawings, logos, design, music, sounds, etc.)

The advertisement features an attractive young, white woman who is dressed in a “cherry pie” theme and showing a lot of skin. There is also a large cherry graphic. She is lying on her back with her legs up on a large marquee sign that reads KICKS, which is decorated in bright lights. The background of the ad is light blue and features hearts. There is also the Route 66 Casino Hotel logo.

The text reads: "We’re kicking it into high gear and giving you a jump start on the action with $20 Free Play!" Additional text provides information on the promotion, including valid dates, contact information and disclaimers, including the fact that the person must be an Ultimate Rewards member with Route 66 Casino Hotel.

4. What is the “subtext” of the message? (What do you think is the hidden or unstated meaning?)

I think the ad is using two different approaches. One is nostalgia, which Route 66 Casino Hotel continues to build into its brand through a series of advertisement and marketing campaigns. The other is a direct tie into the sexual overtones of the image. The “cherry pie” theme is highly suggestive and has been used many times in popular media to portray sexual fantasy.  According to Susie Bright in her 2003 book Mommy's Little Girl: Sex, Motherhood, Porn, and Cherry Pie, cherry images and references are often equated with the idea of virginity.

5. What kind of lifestyle is presented? Is it glamorized? How?

A fast and thrilling lifestyle and definitely one of a risk-taker … a gambler. This ad personifies that image through the use of sexual overtones and imagery.

6. What values are expressed?

Part of the text of the ad states giving you a jump start on the action which would seem to allude to sex as well as playing into the image of a fast, exciting situation where a person can gamble, win a lot of money, and obtain women with their power.

7. What “tools of persuasion” are used?

- Beautiful people: A young attractive model is the centerpiece for the ad.

- Bribery: An offer for $20 in free play is another central piece of the ad.

- Nostalgia: The ad and the casino look to tap into the Route 66 nostalgia, by using text and images that one might readily relate to the heyday of the old Route 66 roadway from Chicago to Los Angeles, which lasted from the 1930s to the 1960s.

- Repetition: The color red on the woman’s shoes, shorts, flower, and cherries.

See "The language of persuasion"

8. What positive messages are presented? What negative messages are presented?

The ad seems to try and promote an idea of fun and entertainment – a word often used to describe gambling by the gaming industry. However, the gaming industry holds a winning advantage over gamblers, as small as 1.6 percent with some games like craps. That advantage is enough to provide the gaming industry with profits in the neighborhood of $92 billion in 2007 (according to American Gaming Association).  The fastest growing segment of the gaming industry is the advent of Indian Casinos. There are over 20 casinos in New Mexico that are operated by Native American tribes and the Indian gaming industry accounted for $26.5 billion in profits nationwide, according to 2008-2009 edition of the Indian Gaming Industry Report.

From the use of sexual imagery, to the promotion of gambling as fun and exciting, there are no positive messages in this advertisement.

9. What groups of people does this message empower? What groups does it disempower? How does this serve the media maker's interests?

The message seems to empower the gaming industry and disempowers those who gamble, as casinos continue to profit from the pockets of those who buy into the mystique of gambling. The imagery in the ad also disempowers women, by making them seem to be objects that can be won.

10.  What part of the story is not being told?  How and where could you get more information about the untold stories? 

The biggest part of the story not being told here is the destruction that gambling causes. According to a report by National Council on Problem Gambling in March 2003, approximately one percent of adults (two million individuals) meet the criteria of a pathological gambler. Another 2 to 3 percent have less significant, yet serious, problems with their gambling.

According to Gamblers Anonymous, approximately 85% of U.S. adults have gambled at least once in their lives and 60% in the past year. Some form of legalized gambling is available in 48 states plus the District of Columbia. (The only two without legalized gambling are Hawai’i and Utah.)

With the legalization of casinos nationwide, lotteries in almost every state, and now internet gambling, pathological gambling could experience exponential growth.Gambling is not a financial solution and does not provide the entertainment value that is the overt messaging that people may get from the gaming industry. Frontline produced a feature for PBS called Easy Money and in the documentary they found that:

- Gambling generates more revenue than movies, spectator sports, theme parks, cruise ships, and recorded music combined.

- Experts outside the gambling industry estimate that people with gambling addictions account for about 5% of all players yet are responsible for 25% of casino and state lottery profits.

The gaming industry says  the average person who gambles is: a mid-40’s, Caucasian male who is college educated and working a white-collar job for an average annual salary of over $53,000 (according to a survey conducted by NFO World Group for gaming industry giant Harrah’s in 2003). Those working with problem gamblers – a term to describe those with varying levels of gambling addictions – suggest a different face.  In 2003, the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago study completed the first-ever national (U.S.) survey on problem gambling prevalence. The study found that young adults, ethnic minorities, and people with little education were slightly more likely to have serious gambling problems.

For some recent news about what is being done to combat the gaming industry, click here and see how The Media Mobilizing Project is helping to keep slot machines out of downtown Philadelphia.