Property agent criticised over ad that resembles parking summons

Singapore Realtor Inc's real estate agent, Shahirah Shaik has come under public scrutiny recently for using fliers that emulated parking summons tickets. 

In an anonymous post on Facebook page 'Complaint Singapore Unrestricted', a user angrily bemoaned the misleading quality of the advertisement.

“Got this on my windscreen. I must say this is very lame and not funny at all,” the post said as seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

“No driver like to see this kind of joke on their windscreen. And you jolly well don’t litter with your cheap marketing gimmick on our cars,” the post continued.

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The flier bore Shaik's details under the header ‘Notice of no offense’ before continuing that the driver's 'transgression' was them "parking beautifully". It also encouraged users to post and caption the ad saying, “we’ve got your summon” and to tag their Instagram page if users liked the advertisement.

While the anonymous user was upset about the shocking marketing tactic, a majority of netizens have expressed their enjoyment over the flier through comments on the marketing strategy and with 29 out of the 48 likes on the post being a laughing face.

The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has said that they are aware of the matter and are looking into it as the CEA’s advertising guidelines disallow placing fliers on windscreens as it may cause a public nuisance or pose a security hazard according to The Straits Times.

SRI which is also known as Shayas Pasti Syabas (SPS Realtors) in Malay, have taken to their Facebook page to respond to the incident in a video that features Syahirah herself.

“The goal of my campaign was actually to create an unforgettable campaign that will stick in the minds of my target audience,” she said.

On behalf of SRI, she also mentioned that it was never her intention to upset or alarm anyone and cited fun and humour as the main reasons the campaign.

Marketers have to be receptive to audience feedback to act swiftly and accordingly. Recently, netizens called for a boycott of sportwear brand adidas after it launched a new range of women's swimsuits using a man to model the suits last month.

The collection, which features a range of lifestyle and performance apparel as well as footwear, was inspired by a love letter Mnisi wrote to his younger self, in which he declares Let Love Be Your Legacy - serving as his mission statement, but also a rallying cry for active allyship to empower and champion the LGBTQIA+ community.

Unfortunately, the collection made headlines for all the wrong reasons when netizens took to social media to share their distaste with women's rights activist Riley Gaines tweeting out that the use of a male model "erased women".

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