Major Vegas casino chases Salvation Army 'ringer'

Not getting into the holiday season spirit is the 2,600-room Aladdin, a major resort-casino in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip.  While there's plenty of round-the-clock action on its 100,000-square-foot casino floor that includes 2,800 slot machines and 87 table games, on the sidewalk outside the Las Vegas Blvd. entrance, the traditional Salvation Army bell-ringer was chased away by hotel security to a location between the Aladdin and its Paris Las Vegas neighbor.

That's naughty, not nice at this time of year.  It's also dopey public relations.

The Las Vegas Sun reported an Aladdin spokeswoman, citing construction near the hotel's entrance, declared, "Our primary concern is for the safety of our guests and the safety of the people walking by."

That didn't register well with Charlie Desiderio, the Salvation Army's area director of development and marketing.  He mentioned the ever-present dispensers of pornographic material positioned on Strip sidewalks, adding, "But the bell-ringers?  They shut us out?  I mean, come on.  Look at all the good we do in the world."

The Salvation Army in Clark County (where Las Vegas is the key city) annually raises about $18 million to assist jobless, homeless and others in need of assistance.

Seems the Aladdin (soon to be rebranded Planet Hollywood) needs a solid shot of proper PR.