September 7, 2016
As Vancouver grapples with a prolonged shortage of rental homes, Airbnb has launched an ad campaign portraying its hosts here as regular people just trying to make ends meet. Karen Sawatzky, an SFU urban studies graduate student who studies Airbnb, said the ads are closely resemble ones for other cities where the company has faced public scrutiny. “They do this a lot, everywhere that they’re facing regulatory pressure,” she said. She suggested that viewers should look at the spots with a critical eye and question the story behind the story. “They don’t say: Is this person renting out a small room? Is that person renting out a secondary suite on their third floor when that used to be a rental? Is that person … renting out an investment condo on Airbnb? There’s no details,” she said. “I think that these ad campaigns are designed to pull heartstrings … and not actually get at the facts and actual issues.”…
Source: http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/new-airbnb-ads-aimed-at-vancouver-lawmakers
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