With Hong Kong’s once red-hot housing market seeing signs of a slump, agents are apparently being forced to find “novel” ways to promote their properties.
Such as starring in advertisements while lying in a bathtub wearing just a towel.
That’s what Sammi Chan, a senior account manager of Ricacorp Properties, did to get the eyeballs of aspiring homeowners and potential investors.
In the advertisement, which has now been taken down, Chan appears to be clad in nothing but a pink towel while sitting in the huge bathtub of a unit of the Upper Riverbank apartment building in Kai Tak.
“Don’t worry, I saw this beautiful bathtub in the master bathroom and thought I would not be doing it justice if I didn’t take a bath here,” she said in the ad.
Chan added that it is rare to find such a bathtub as it is so big that it is usually only found in landed properties.
“You’ve seen enough,” she said, while covering her chest with one hand momentarily before signaling the viewer to go away.
The video has since gone viral on the internet, with many netizens questioning the marketing tactic.
“Is she selling the property or herself?” asked one internet user.
“Poor thing, the homeowner became so poor after buying the unit that she has no money to buy clothes and has to sleep in the bathtub,” another netizen joked.
Internet users also found out that she was a singer and a failed district councilor candidate.
Responding to media inquiries, Ricacorp Properties said that the agent played the role of a model for the advertisement, adding the method is “novel”.
The company also stressed that she was wearing clothes underneath the towel and the video was published only after getting the seller’s approval.
But Ricacorp said it has since taken down the video to stop people from cyber bullying her.
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