Anyone who’s ever strolled down the famous Las Vegas strip will know that when it comes to gambling, the bigger and more outrageous, the better. 

Vegas casinos are not prone to shying away from the limeligh,t and neither are the creators of some of the most audacious publicity stunts in the online casino universe. 

We take a look at some of the most memorable online casino publicity stunts over recent years, mostly ridiculous. Still, all with one thing in common - they hit the mark in generating publicity and raising brand awareness. 

Virgin Mary Toasted Cheese

In 1994, Florida jewellery designer Diana Duyser made a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast. After taking a bite, she discovered what she believed to be the image of the Virgin Mary looking back at her.

She put cotton balls around the special half of the sandwich and placed it in a plastic container she kept on her nightstand for 10 years. She claimed it protected her over the years, brought her blessings, and miraculously never grew a single spore of mould.

In 2004, the odd item was auctioned on eBay. The winning bidder, GoldenPalace, paid a whopping $28,000 for the sacred sandwich. The online casino’s CEO, Richard Row, said he planned to use the sandwich to raise money for charity.

After purchasing the item, it was displayed in a glass case at the company’s Isle of Man headquarters. It was used for promotional purposes, including online advertisements and music videos.

Golden Palace gained notoriety in the early 2000s for outrageous marketing stunts, with one tactic being buying bizarre items on eBay and using them to market their brand. In 2004, they paid $28,050 for the ball allegedly kicked by David Beckham in a missed penalty.

Some of their other ridiculous publicity stunts included sponsoring Mark Roberts, a serial streaker, for his appearance at various events, including the Super Bowl; paying $65,000 for a jar supposedly containing the ghost of a young boy, using it in their advertising campaigns, and claiming it brought them good luck; and even paying a woman $10,000 for emblazoning a Golden Palace tattoo across her forehead.

While effective in garnering media attention, these stunts have been criticised for being controversial and often tasteless.

 Betting on a Gigantic Dice Roll

In 2007, GNUF realised that breaking into the online gambling market wasn’t easy, so they decided to go big or go home.

Their stunt involved rolling two enormous steel dice down a mountain slope and taking bets on the outcome, part of a viral campaign to open the business officially.

The campaign, dubbed “the world’s greatest dice roll”, used a helicopter designed for extreme conditions to airlift the dice, each over two metres tall and weighing over half a ton, over a steep snow-packed mountain slope in Greenland.

Users of the site could then view the video of the dice on their journey down the mountain and place a bet on the resul,t which was revealed later.

The helicopter pilot, Goran Marklund, later remarked that conditions in Greenland’s mountains could be “dicey.” They could only count on one chance, but they got up over the ridge and made the drop.

 Thames Invaded by Giant Rubber Ducky

In 2012, a “maritime” spectacle unfolded that must have brought many smiles as a giant rubber duck descended the River Thames.

The 50-foot-tall inflatable duck, 60-foot wide and weighing half a ton, was launched from West India Dock as part of a publicity stunt for Jackpotjoy’s new Facebook FUNdation.

The giant duck, named Sir Galahad, was met with cheers and laughter as it made its way upstream past iconic London landmarks. At 10 a.m., it reached Tower Bridge, where the balustrades were lifted to let the enormous yellow inflatable pass through.

The Jackpotjoy FUNdation was created to get everyone to have more daft fun in their lives, and the thought process behind the stunt was that a giant rubber duck floating down the Thames was a great way to kick it off and bring a smile or chuckle to anyone seeing it.

After the successful event, a patron of the FUNdation said they wanted people to send in their entries of daft and wacky things they’d like to do, and they’d provide funding for the best ones to become a reality.

 Mikey the Monkey Goes All In

In 2006, PokerShare made headlines by sponsoring a chimpanzee named Mikey to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

The publicity stunt, "Chimp vs. Chump”, highlighted the website’s ease of use, implying that even a chimp could learn to play poker on its platform. While Mikey didn’t win any bracelets, the event generated significant media attention for PokerShare and proved a successful marketing campaign.

Although there was some criticism that the stunt was exploitative and that Mikey was subjected to undue stress, the event remains a memorable moment in poker history, showcasing the power of creative marketing and our enduring fascination with the intelligence of primates.

 Amazon Deforestation Prank

In 2014, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power’s #Shavetherainforest stunt generated controversy when an image appeared online of a section of the Amazonian rainforest cut to show support for England’s World Cup participation.

Twitter lit up as many thought the bookmaker had chopped down trees when they had used a program called MODO to create a 3-D model of a section of rainforest 85km away from Manaus, where England was to play Italy later that week.

Paddy Power released a statement to quiet the controversy, saying no tree was cut down in the Amazon. The statement added that there was no helicopter, and they hadn’t set foot in Brazil.

Paddy Power responded to the criticism by saying that the controversial images were manufactured and designed to raise awareness of the plight of the rainforests.

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