• by Karl Greenberg , March 13, 2008

Vegas.com, a privately owned consumer travel and tourism Web site for Las Vegas, is launching three 30-second spots for a $20 million national cable television ad campaign, "The Vegas Experts."

One ad has actors playing Vegas.com employees going around the city figuring out things people need to know about Sin City. In the ads, the employees show up, very sober and serious at parties, backstage at shows, with celebrities, clubs, and hotels gathering info for the site.

The ad features George Maloof, Carrot Top, Nathan Burton, The Blue Man Group and Louie Anderson, along with performers from Vegas shows "Le Rêve," "Jubilee," "Chippendale's," "Fantasy," "Thunder from Down Under," "X Burlesque" and Gregory Popovich's Comedy Pet Theater, all of whom interact with Vegas.com employees.

In another, Allyn Rachel plays an employee of the Web site who has to tour hotels to get info. She strolls into a Playboy party in the Hugh Hefner Suite at the Palms replete with showgirls, performing animals and celebrity cameos. "It's a thankless job, but I do it for you, so you know exactly where to stay."

The other two spots have a faux employee the middle of the show "Le Rêve" at the Wynn Las Vegas and at the nightclub Pure at Caesars Palace.

The ads are via Vegas-based Stella Productions. Vegas.com, owned by the Greenspun Family, bills itself as the largest city destination travel web site in the world.