Indiana Live! Casino Timberlake Hoax Angers Many In Attendance

Indiana Live! may have put on a good front for the opening of their new Shelbyville casino, but the truth of the matter is that many patrons in attendance left unhappy after the grand opening festivities.

The grand opening was supposed to feature two of the top stars in Hollywood, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel. Ads were run promoting their appearance at the opening ceremonies. Neither of the stars showed up.

"It was ridiculous. They promised us that Justin and Jessica were going to be here, so we came down to check out the new casino and had hoped to see the two stars. When they did not show up, we simply felt cheated," said Marian Flemming.

Fleming was not the only one that was upset with the apparent hoax that the casino pulled. The marketing firm that was representing them, Coles Marketing Communications, ended up dropping the casino as a client after the event.

"We repeatedly asked casino officials to provide additional information to the media regarding this issue, and they denied our requests," said the marketing firms Barbara Coles, in a statement, "we simply won't continue working with a client with who we cannot communicate when it is our job to communicate for and with them."

Not everyone, however, was convinced that the casino was pulling a fast one on potential customers. The mayor of Shelbyville, who it should be pointed out, has a great interest in whether or not the casino succeeds, defended casino owners.

"They've always been fair and they've always been honest and up front and I believe they had every expectation of him (Timberlake) being here," said Mayor Scott Furgeson to WTHR-TV Eyewitness News, before admitting his motives, "They're giving us lots of money through revenues from the casino in this down economic time. They've created jobs in our city and they're creating an entertainment factor that's a wow."

It is true that the casino will be providing revenue that the city and state would not otherwise have. As for the entertainment part of their endeavor, patrons that were there for the grand opening have their doubts.

"Let's see them deliver some entertainment before we get all excited again to come out here," said Ronald Trubeau, "So far, all they have delivered is hype, and a couple of no-shows to help boost their grand opening numbers."

March 18, 2009
Posted By April Gardner
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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