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Brokerage apologizes for sexy video to promote upscale listing
Amid heavy blowback globally, Australian brokerage LJ Hooker Bankstown took off the video off its website
A real estate brokerage firm in Australia is apologizing for posting a sexy video to market a luxury home after it drew widespread ridicule on social media.
Sam Nadler, an agent with LJ Hooker Bankstown, the Sydney-based brokerage, arranged for the production in a style resembling an R&B music video to promote a sleek, upscale home in New South Wales, according to Inman. Nadler said he often posts lighthearted videos together with his listings.
The video at the heart of the controversy shows a male and female model dancing and flirting with each other before disappearing into a bedroom.
On social media some viewers said the video was humorous, but many others called it an embarrassment or a smear on the reputation of the brokerage industry. Some viewers also noted that the female model in the house was not the same one in wedding photos hung on a wall.
The video featuring the flirtatious couple had gone viral by the time LJ Hooker Bankstown removed it from the firm’s website. Some viewers had posted it on YouTube.
LJ Hooker Bankstown also canceled an open house for the residence in New South Wales due to what the brokerage called “unforeseen circumstances” in a Facebook post.
A spokeswoman for the brokerage said in a statement to CNN that LJ Hooker Bankstown “is always looking for new ways to market our listings, however this time we missed the mark.” [Inman] – Mike Seemuth