Airbnb management apologises for ‘misguided tone’ of Tube ads
Hostmaker CEO Nakul Sharma says controversial ads have been taken down over the weekend and future advertising creative is being reviewed.
Short-let management agency Hostmaker has told The Negotiator that the company wants to apologise for the furore stirred up by its most recent poster ad campaign, which urged landlords to ditch long-term lets and embrace Airbnb.
The company specialises in helping landlords manage short-term Airbnb lettings and has been running a set of aggressively-toned advertising posters.
“We are sorry for the concern caused by our recent ad campaign and we acknowledge the tone was misguided,” says Nakul Sharma, CEO of Hostmaker.
Sharma (left) also says that the adverts were taken down over the weekend and that he will be “reviewing all future creatives with our partners”.
As we reported last week, its adverts have run headlines such as ‘My long-term let is ticking along…terribly” and ‘You deserve more…30% more”. These led to a campaign to ban the ads on the London Underground by housing activists.
“In a cosmopolitan city like London, there is a need for a range of housing and rental solutions to meet the needs of the wide variety of residents and visitors in our capital city,” says Sharma.
“Whilst it’s critical that there is plenty of affordable housing stock available, our portfolio is made up of premium homes in zone 1&2 postcodes and does not take affordable housing stock away from the market.
“We are here to meet the needs of Londoners and visitors to the capital who would prefer to stay in a high quality, furnished and managed home service.
“We provide a flexible lettings model to homeowners of these type of properties; blending long-term, mid-term and short-term rentals to suit market demands and help homeowners weather the current slump in rent prices and property sales, ensuring they aren’t left with gaps in the year when their property is standing empty.”
