What Stays in Vegas

Las Vegas’ tourism commission is fighting to keep its slogan from being hijacked. But with licensing rights worth potentially millions of dollars on the line, the clothing company is fighting back in court, arguing that Las Vegas is hardly the first place in the world where people have promised to look the other way.

There’s that old saying among traveling salesmen: “What happens on the road stays on the road.”

And the one from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings: “What you see here, what you hear here, whom you see here, stays here.”

The clothing company’s lawyers also cite a sign in a now-defunct Cambridge, Mass., tavern that declared, “What Happens Here, Stays Here.” That was nearly 10 years before Las Vegas launched its ad campaign.

Finally, there are all the variations on the phrase used in Las Vegas itself, such as the pitch used by one major resort-casino: “What Happens at the Palms Never Happened.”