Waiting no time to get ahead of the current crisis currently surrounding it’s entire business and brand, Crown Resorts has today launched an extensive, and expensive, ad campaign in an attempt to water down some of the fires ignite by a recent expose into the organisation by Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 minutes.
The Nine Group, who declined to run the advertisements, have wasted no time tearing apart Crown Resorts defence.
So far, the advertisements appear to only be in print media, but images of the diatribe, titled “Setting the record straight in the face of a deceitful campaign against Crown” have begun circulating online. The advertisements are reported to have been published far and wide, with estimates that the embattled Crown pumped no less than $250,000 to achieve this.
Throughout the op-ed sized advertisement, Crown argues that the recent expose, aired and published at the weekend, is merely an attempt by the media to damage the businesses reputation.
“As a Board, we are extremely concerned for our staff, shareholders and other stakeholders, as much of this unbalanced and sensationalised reporting is based on unsubstantiated allegations, exaggerations, unsupported connections and outright falsehoods,” the advertisement reads.
“Crown operates in one of the most highly regulated industries in Australia and takes its responsibility to comply with its obligations very seriously.”
Showing absolutely no chill whatsoever, The Nine Group didn’t merely reply to the advertisement, they dissected it, paragraph by paragraph annotating each point made by Crown with a counter point referring to the investigation and evidence. At various points, Crown Resorts appears to only make matters worse, for instance:
Crown’s claim: Extensive references in the 60 Minutes program to alleged criminal connections of an organisation said to be called ‘The Company’. Crown has had no dealings or knowledge of any organisation of that name or description.
[The Nine Group’s] Response: The point of much of the reporting has been to establish Crown’s failure to conduct adequate due diligence on its junket partners.
And again:
Crown’s Claim: Crown was not charged with or convicted of any offence in China.
[The Nine Group’s] Response: 18 Crown staff were convicted of gambling offences in China.
In another blow to the hotel and casino giant, the chief of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Michael Phelan announced this week that an investigation is now underway into the links between Crown Resorts and organised crime. Their trouble doesn’t end there – as well as further investigations, The Crown failed in it’s duty to rectify 9 alleged risks pertaining to its Melbourne casino including weaknesses that would expose the venue to money laundering risks.
The public, and indeed a series of parliamentary cross-benchers are eager for a deeper probe into the allegations, however this week the senate voted 44-12 against a parliamentary inquiry into Crown Resorts.
Over the weekend, The Nine Group exposed a damning report that linked the Crown Resort to organised crime. It’s reported that the organisation dabbled in money laundering, associating with Asian crime gangs and fast-tracked visa applications for ‘VVIP’ guests.
The story develops.
