In a pretzel-like bit of exploitation masquerading as outrage, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has released a flood of marketing materials in the past week pretending to be angry about the Prince Harry scandal—not over his behavior, of course, but over the behavior of bystanders who took photos of Harry's naked backside and posted them everywhere, callously ignoring the rule that what happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas. "For shame! To those who traded in their pledge to their Las Vegas brethren, we deplore you," the LVCVA says in a full-page ad in USA Today. The ad goes on: "We are calling on you, the defenders of what happens in Vegas staying in its rightful place—in Vegas. We are asking for a shun on these exploiters of Prince Harry. We shall boycott partying of any kind with them. No bottle service. No bikini-clad girls. No Bucatini from Batali. In other words, we will not play with them anymore. Who's with us?" The ad points to VisitLasVegas.com/knowthecode, where you can actually sign a note (sigh) vowing to refrain from "tweeting, tagging, posting, telling, whispering, emoting, defining, drawing up, writing about or in any way revealing" anyone's bad behavior in Sin City. The LVCVA has also unveiled a more succinct "Keep calm and carry on Harry" poster, slightly amending the well-known original. Faux outrage in ads is pretty irritating—as are stupid pledges. Still, it's hard to fault the Vegas tourism people on this one. Dimwitted yet beloved, a prince yet a profligate, Harry is the perfect de facto endorser for the city. LVCVA would be foolish not to party with him.
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