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Harrah and Narragansett Tribe Team to Build Casino
Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment and the Narragansett Indian tribe have begun a heavy advertising and public relations campaign to persuade Rhode Islanders to vote in favor of a state constitutional amendment allowing them to build a casino in West Warwick.
Harrah's has booked at least $650,000 worth of television ads to run over three months, according to station records. It also is spending thousands of dollars on radio ads.
Harrah's is attempting to win support for the casino amendment by showing the financial benefits it could have for Rhode Island and the Narragansett Indian Tribe, a sympathetic group in the Ocean State because of past discrimination.
Harrah's ads also are designed to offset criticism from Gov. Don Carcieri and others that it is as an out-of=state company intent on profiting from Rhode Island.
The television ad used testimonials from Lipps Printing in New Orleans to show how a casino could help small businesses in Rhode Island. Casino critics have said it will hurt small businesses by drawing customers from locally owned restaurants and theaters.
The radio ad also invokes a sympathetic response by having Thomas talk about the tribe's problems with poverty and the ways money from a casino could help its members. Harrah's and the tribe have released a summary of their contract that says the tribe will receive 5 percent of the casino's profits after taxes are paid.
Saturday, August 26 , 2006
Brian Letendre