Isle exposure on
Miss U. called brief
but valuable
The jury is out on
By Nadine Kam
how much visitor revenue
it will bring back
Star-BulletinShow time has come and gone, and for its $3.3 million, Hawaii bought two hours of girls, girls and girls, with a smidge of ocean and palm trees when the Miss Universe contest was broadcast last night.
The price seems right when weighed against the cost of prime-time advertising on network television. The same money might have paid for a one-minute ad airing during tomorrow's much-hyped last episode of "Seinfeld," where spots are running $575,000 to $1.5 million per 30 seconds to reach an estimated 133 million viewers.
Miss Universe officials promised Hawaii 10 minutes of "documentary" time and 2.5 billion potential viewers. It's not yet known how many people actually tuned in to the CBS two-hour show, but the pageant did deliver those 10 minutes, even if viewers had to search for it.
The interior of the Stan Sheriff Center was transformed to look more Hollywood than Honolulu.
The staging worked as a showcase for potential convention business since it touted Hawaii's ability to stage a world-class event. On the other hand, viewers didn't get much of a taste of the real beauty of the islands.
Watching from Los Angeles, travel writer and photographer Richard Sullivan said, "Ninety-five percent of the show could have been anywhere on earth. Most of the settings showed the women on hotel grounds and the weather was overcast. I wish they had gotten them on the North Shore.
"It didn't seem like people from Hawaii were given much control."
By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
The staging at the Stan Sheriff Center during last week's
semifinals dwarfs the Miss Universe contestants.
Sullivan said the most effective segments were the two picturesque montages, running about one-minute total, in which Danny Couch sang, "Have You Seen These Islands?"Save for a glimpse at the new Convention Center, the image of Hawaii was one that most people already know, including the retro-tourist-style Polynesian revue with flashy Tahitian dancers that have little to do with authentic Hawaiian dance.
Speaking before the event, Manu Boyd, former cultural specialist and current publications editor for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, said he had no expectation that the show would be a cultural showcase.
"Sometimes I'm not pleased at how Hawaii is portrayed in the media, but I'm not sure if tradition is appropriate in every single instance. There's a lot of glamour and glitz associated with Miss Universe, and to an extent, it's just entertainment."
In fact, a Las Vegas-style costume extravaganza complete with feathered headdresses was a highlight of the program.
David Park, president of DDB Needham Group Los Angeles, said that in all the 22 years he worked as an ad man in Honolulu, the debate about how to market Hawaii was constant, with no resolution. "Maybe this is the opportunity for resolve to come to the surface," he said.
As to whether bringing the pageant to Hawaii was a smart move, he said that depends on what happens next.
"Hawaii gets tremendous value from events held there. The Pro Bowl gets a lot of attention. The Hawaiian Open golf tournament is a tremendous value. This is just one more event of that caliber.
"But the one-time thing rarely does anything. Building on it and determining how you use the event is what gives it a marketing thrust."
He said that it is up to individual businesses to decide how to parlay Hawaii's higher profile to their advantage.
The time to strike is now because memories are short. Sullivan said that until he tuned into the pageant, he had forgotten that last year's winner, Brook Lee, was from Hawaii.
And who remembers where last year's Miss Universe pageant was held?
(Answer: Miami Beach, Fla.)
Official Miss Universe Web site.
