Toronto short-term rental advertisement using a popular meme has people furious
Toronto's housing crisis is a touchy subject, and when a company sent out flyers implying that condo owners should kick out their rental tenants in favour of short-term Airbnb stays, it struck a nerve.
A photo of a flyer for stayherecohosting.com, a company that manages Airbnb rentals for unit owners, has ruffled the feathers of housing advocates by using a popular meme to sell owners on the merits of managing controversial short-term rentals instead of long-term leases.
The ad suggests that condo owners can make more money switching to short-term rentals, claiming owners can rake in up to $7,560 per month, while leasing to a tenant will net an owner an average of $2,099 per month.
I got this ad in the mail today. Nothing like profiting off the housing crisis right? 🤢 pic.twitter.com/8nFpxdGuf3
— Emily Wong (@emilylrnw) March 30, 2022
Meanwhile, there's a critical shortage of rental housing in Toronto, while the city has been placing new taxes and regulations on short-term rentals, which has been accused of siphoning off long-term rental units from the market.
That would be a perfectly reasonable question if their actions existed in a vacuum and didn’t affect anyone else in the slightest. Of course, you know that already.
— Mollusc (@PartyWhelan) March 31, 2022
And if the message of the ad wasn't enough of a problem for housing advocates, the packaging adds another level of cringe.
This is trash ... I hope the marketing team get the sack ... ¯\_ಠ_ಠ_/¯
— Nicholas นิค Blosch (=^･ｪ･^=) 🏴 (@blosch) March 31, 2022
The ad makes use of the Distracted Boyfriend meme, a photo and image caption combo popularized in 2017 and often used to illustrate disloyalty or desire for something different.
It's so well-known, it even has a dedicated Wikipedia entry.
The ad has been described by commenters as sickening and repulsive, though others are defending condo owners' choice to get more money out of their investment.
Because the problems this age faces is not a lack of profits. There are plenty of profit hoarding institutions. You can't fight climate change by hoarding wealth. You can't solve the housing crisis by exploiting workers. Many of us are ready to condemn capitalism.
— U.S.EH (@ohfrackoff) March 31, 2022
blogTO reached out to stayherecohosting, though the company did not respond to our request for immediate comment on the flyer controversy.
