Toronto’s housing crisis is a touchy subject, and when a company sent out flyers suggesting that condo owners should evict their tenants in favor of short-term stays on Airbnb, it struck a chord.
A photo from a flyer for stayherecohosting.com, a company that manages Airbnb rentals for unit owners, has ruffled housing advocates by using a popular meme to sell landlords on the merits of running controversial short-term rentals term rather than long term. leases.
The ad suggests condo owners can make more money by switching to short-term rentals, saying owners can earn up to $7,560 per month, while renting to a tenant will earn the owner a average of $2,099 per month.
I received this ad in the mail today. Nothing like profiting from the housing crisis, right? 🤢 pic.twitter.com/8nFpxdGuf3
— Emily Wong (@emilylrnw) March 30, 2022
Meanwhile, there is a severe shortage of rental housing in Toronto, while the city has imposed new taxes and regulations on short-term rentals, which have been accused of siphoning long-term rental housing from the market.
It 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 already know that.
— Mollusk (@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 shit… I hope the marketing team gets fired… ¯_ಠ_ಠ_/¯
— Nicholas นิค Blosch (=^･ｪ･^=) 🏴 (@blosch) March 31, 2022
The ad uses the Distracted boyfriend memea photo and image caption combo popularized in 2017 and often used to illustrate disloyalty or a desire for something different.
It’s so well known it even has a dedicated Wikipedia entry.
The ad was described by commentators as disgusting and repulsivealthough others defend the choice of condo owners to make more money from their investment.
Because the problems facing this era are not a lack of profits. There are many profit hoarding institutions. You cannot fight climate change by accumulating wealth. You cannot solve the housing crisis by exploiting workers. Many of us are ready to condemn capitalism.
—USEH (@ohfrackoff) March 31, 2022
blogTO contacted stayherecohosting, although the company did not respond to our request for immediate comment on the flyer controversy.
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