Casino Scents: How They Keep Us Playing
Introduction: Casino Scents
Did you know that virtually all casinos use smells as a means of increasing their profits? In fact, all Las Vegas casinos are famous for this practice. Each casino will have its own scent and guard it’s ingredients with care, as they want their own unique scent to be the smell of their own casino. And scents are big money spinners.
The truth is that punters spend more when the casino smells nice. “Gamblers plunked 45% more quarters into slot machines when a Las Vegas casino was scented with a pleasant smell,” said Sheryl Stolberg in June 1994. As you already know, every decision made in the casino has been tested down to the finest detail. This is to ensure it will either make money directly or help to make money. Everything is calculated to turn a profit.
Let’s have a deeper look into how casinos use scents to keep their customers betting.
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Why Do Casinos Use Scents?
You have to keep in mind, that unlike the publicity would have us believe, casinos are mainly full of the working poor. And, being the “great unwashed”, they really stink. They smell or cigarettes, cheap drinks, sweat, and lost hopes. No one wants to smell that! So the casinos have huge pumps moving the old air out and wafting in new, freshly smelling air. With the new flowery smells, gamblers also feel more invigorated…and so stay and play some more jackpot games.
A trick that US-based property agents commonly use is to spray the kitchen and living room with the smell of freshly baked cookies or bread. For the potential buyer, this brings back the warm memories associated with the homes of their youth. Likewise, for some, the smell of frying bacon can take you back in time, to a more secure and maybe even happier time of childhood. well, casinos have got in on that psychological game. As you can well imagine, they spend a lot of time, effort, and money to create an environment that’ll not only make the gamblers feel at ease but will also encourage them to stay longer.
Smelling Better Thanks to Marl Peltier
It’s interesting, that most gamblers know that the house edge is against them, and yet continue to play. by making the casino smell fresh and welcoming, the casino owners are also chipping away at all the negatives a typical gambler might have in the back of their minds. To help them, there are even companies who specialize in making the casino’s smell a certain way. And it’s big business. One of the first pioneers of scenting casinos, the godfather of the casino scent industry, is a scientist named Marl Peltier. He was the first to realize that if the smells that we associate with pleasant childhood memories, then we’re more then likely to stay longer and play more.
Provided that the casino ensures the punter has a good time, with free drinks and other comps, then it creates a feedback loop: the Bellagio smells good – I had a good time at the Bellagio = I want to go back to the Bellagio. Our lizard brains are hard-wired when it comes to pleasure. So we can’t help ourselves when it comes down to making an association between pleasant and comforting things. Thus a pleasant smell can transport us back to a time and place where we felt secure and happy. It’s the same story for all of our senses. Sometimes, you’ll hear a piece of music and be instantly taken back in time. Maybe to a great party or a time without the cares, obligations and responsibilities of the present day. And what’s more, we actively want to repeat the memory.
How Do the Casinos Get the Scents on the Casino Floor?
Now we know the why, it’s time to look at the how. Of course, casinos need to be careful about pumping substances onto the casino floor. These could become fire hazards. But they use a very simple process of getting a predetermined amount of scent onto the casino’s gaming room floors. Within the venting ducts, they install small 5″ x 12″ boxes. These contain oils that slowly evaporate and spread their aroma throughout the ventilation system. It was back in 1991, that the very first system was installed by Mr. Peltier and his company, AromaSys at the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas. It was to prove to be a huge and instant hit. And now every single casino either on or off the strip employs the same technology.
What are the Scents? Do They Vary?
AromaSys, also provide scents for hotels, spas, and any business, where a unique smell can help with sales. As a general rule, spas and hotels tend to favor scents that represent or amplify their environments. So a hotel in the mountains would smell of pine trees and moss. A resort in Florida might smell more of the sea and salt. because of the intense competition between Vegas casinos, you’ll find that each one has a different smell. That’s because each has its own custom-designed scents. To avoid the competition from stealing their scent, these are usually proprietary to each establishment.
Las Vegas Casino Scents
Here’s a list of the scents used by the different casinos on the Las Vegas strip:
Aria – Asian Garden
Aria (Spa) – Pink Grapefruit
Bellagio – Blue Ice
Caesars Palace – The Empire
The Cromwell – Allure Noir
Flamingo – White Cashmere
Golden Nugget – Coconut Breeze
Harrah’s – Mandarin Zest
The Linq – Linq A
Luxor – Asian Garden
Mandalay Bay – Coconut Spice
Margaritaville Casino (former) at the Flamingo – Sun and Sand
MGM Grand – Asian Garden
MGM Signature – Volupta
Monte Carlo (now Park MGM) – Pomegranate & Sage
The Mirage (lobby) – Mirage Coconut
The Mirage (casino) – Tropical Coco Mango
Nobu Hotel – Lemon Ginger
Silverton – Hot Apple Pie
SLS Las Vegas – SLS Fragrance
Station Casinos – Pacific Breeze
The Venetian (current) – Arancia
The Venetian (pre-2015) – Seduction
Wynn – Asian Lilly
Some of these are deliberately vague. But if you visit any of the above casinos, you’ll be able to purchase their particular brand of scent in lotions, room sprays, candles, body sprays, diffuses, and perfumes. Love the smell of the Silverton? Then here’s a room spray of hot apple pie to take home with you. The hope is that by spraying it at home, your lizard brain will immediately remind you of the great time you had at the Silverton Casino in Las Vegas. It’s a subtle hint that maybe you should be going back soon to relive those wonderful memories, hitting the blackjack tables, or playing jackpot slots.
History of Scent Marketing in Casinos
Though many will remember the 1970’s like a groovy time, it was also a time where you could light up and smoke anywhere and everywhere. To that end, all casinos had a stink problem. In the beginning, casinos began to install those scent diffusers you can still find in restrooms today. The problem was that either they were not strong enough to overpower the stench of cigarettes. Or the opposite, in that they were so strong that the casino ended up smelling in the same manner that public swimming baths smell of chlorine. But then along came the self-described former hippie and aromatic fanatic, Eillen Kenney. She was able to provide individual casinos with a much larger range of scents.
As of today, both diffuser and scent companies have come forwards in leaps and bounds. Just like the top cosmetic companies, the makers of scents have whole laboratories dedicated to the production of new and exciting smells. It’s become a huge industry, with around 15 large players in the scented space. And, of course, big business is reflected in the earnings of the casinos themselves.
Conclusion: Casino Scents
Where ever you are in the world, walking into any casino and your nose will be met by a certain and unique smell. It doesn’t matter if you’re gambling in Monaco or Las Vegas, these smells are, by design, to keep you on the premises and keep you gambling. Keep in mind that absolutely nothing happens by chance in a casino. It’s a calculated means whereby the casino can up their profits. So indirectly, because they make you stay longer, they also increase your jackpot winning chances. On the plus side for the customer, we now live in times where smoking is not so prevalent, and so scents help disguise any cigarette stink there might otherwise be. Of course, there will always be someone who’ll complain about a particular scent in use at the casino. But, as with all things in life, you can’t please all the people all the time.
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