To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Las Vegas staple Station Casinos has launched a two-phase ad campaign that highlights Station’s charm, grit, history, and spirit with cinematic polish and style. Produced by Greenpoint Pictures and directed by Tobias Nathan, the serialized spots act as a return to the imagination and spectacle that makes Las Vegas a beacon of cool in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
Scored by a song that’s similarly turning 50 this year—“Still The One” by Orleans—the campaign films capture the deeply personal and raw authenticity of Station Casinos' history in Las Vegas. Divorced from pretense and the glossy spectacle Vegas is stereotypically associated with, Nathan lenses Station with the awe and reverence that its proprietors, team members, and regular guests all share. With great cinematic care, “From Vegas. For Vegas. Always Vegas.” depicts a Vegas where no one is pretending to be anything they’re not, showcasing it as a lived-in city rather than giving it the theme park treatment.
Greenpoint produced two hero films concepted by The New Company creative agency, the first highlighting the company’s history, and the second highlighting Station Casinos’ colorful cast of Team Members who bring the guest experience to life each day, set to “Still the One” by Orleans. Subsequent vignettes highlighted the interesting stories of five individual Team Members and their journey in the organization. The films perfectly depict how the company stays true to its roots and exemplify how the people running Station Casinos are the secret sauce that makes these places so exceptional. The moments that spring up in candid interviews and semi-staged tableaus from the casino floor draw the audience towards the screen with the same familiarity that is omnipresent at Station Casinos. Shooting these organic scenes and lifting them with a cinematic polish, Nathan shines a light on the Station staff and elevates the work they do as something that makes this place a standout destination within Las Vegas.
Director Tobias Nathan says of directing these films, “Here’s what I keep thinking about: Vegas is a city built on constant change. Few are allowed to age or remember. Station Casinos is the exception to this rule. The felt remembers your hands. The bartender remembers your drink. The dealer remembers when you were a kid, peering over the table as your uncle taught you the rules of blackjack. The team at Station Casinos remembers ‘you.’ Getting to know the people and capturing the incredible life, warmth, humor, routine, and ritual of all of them with my camera was the ultimate opportunity.”
Debuting on July 1 and airing in phases through Labor Day, the first phase of Station Casinos 50th anniversary campaign featured the company’s history and told the story of its founder, Frank Fertitta Jr., telling the story of Fertitta’s vision for Las Vegas, incorporating archival footage of its original location Bingo Palace in its early days and establishing it as the introduction of “local” casinos to Las Vegas.
Rounding out Station Casinos’ 50th Anniversary campaign “From Vegas. For Vegas. Always Vegas.” is the second and final installment of this series: one that gives the same star treatment and documentary-style profiling to Stations’ Team Members. As part of the 50th anniversary, Station Casinos also debuted a new company logo and culminated the celebrations with a surprise stock award that granted $1,000 worth of stock for every year worked to all full time and part time team members totaling over $70 million.
