Nothing says "We love our hosts" like videos of a guest jumping on the bed

Nothing says "We love our hosts" like videos of a guest jumping on the bed

I just saw this today and was stunned: A commercial showing hosts leaving out an electric guitar for a family and the couple's child jumping up and down on the bed.

What Ad agency thought this was a good idea? And what unrealistic expectations is Airbnb setting for potential guests about what hosts will be providing and what guests are allowed to do in these homes? (note all the hosts who verify they can't get reimbursed for their broken furniture and beds).

And no - it's not cute when it's a minority kid doing it.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/OGXN/airbnb-made-possible-by-hosts-song-2

Please oh please oh please show these things to hosts in a focus group first. Our jobs are hard enough as it is.

89 Replies 89
Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Kristina46 

Yes, on their 'how to host' page there is a whole section explaining to hosts how they should prepare for and look after guests animals. There is even a section telling hosts how to look after pets left in their care when guests go on outings without them! Airbnb considers this a better option than the guest just locking the animal in a room to wreak havoc while they are gone! Wow, don't tell me Airbnb actually thought of the host!!!!

 

It's all about providing the guest with a nice trouble free experience. The poor sodding host is expected to pick up the pieces (or what ever else the dog has left behind) smile and say what a wonderful pleasure it was to have them soil and destroy their home!

 

Pet owners accept that pets have their own way of expressing acceptable behaviour. They are happy to clean up after them, fix up the damage they do...and make excuses for them!

"Oh, he isn't that badly behaved, that's just his way of saying he likes you", as that little bladder with 4 legs cocks it's leg on your Nike sneakers, or deposits a nugget of joy on your white shag pile carpet! Pet owners expect this.......but why should we hosts have to!

And many pet owners now deliberately 'game' the system by swearing their dog is a support animal of some description. They are not required to prove it, and hosts are not allowed to reject the guests word......service animals must be accommodated.

 

I am a dog owner and we love our dog as do all the guests that come here but, I let a woman bring her two dogs along after she assured me these dogs were quiet and placid.  When they arrived these dogs turned out to be Burnese Mountain dogs each weighing about 60Kgs. They completely destroyed our garden trampling on whatever was in their path as they charged around in it and frightened the hell out of our dog. This woman thought this was nothing unusual and made no attempt to control them. 

I thought after that experience....'that's it, I don't care if its a goldfish in a bowl.....it's not welcome'! 

 

Oh, you do have an advantage with not just getting animals into your state Kristina, it is getting them out as well......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5OAr1quQII&ab_channel=RobertLemRobertLem

 

Cheers.........Rob

 

 

 

@Robin4  Wait, ABB has created a whole section on hosting pets but still won't add a "pet fee" option???!!!!! 

@Suzanne302  It beggars belief, doesn't it? Just like pushing long term bookings, while not collecting a security deposit, only guaranteeing the first month's rent, and not doing any background checks on guests. But sure, hosts, take those long term bookings, because that's what guests are looking for.

Russell49
Level 10
Katoomba, Australia

If they are rambunctious and jumping on the bed, they get the hell out....maybe they can put that in their ad!

Russell49
Level 10
Katoomba, Australia

I am fortunate in the sense that where I live is a tourist area so guests normally go sight seeing, hiking etc during the day and dining at night. I also only rent a room so no way is it child friendly in the manner that is brought up in the ad. If I noticed this behaviour, I remove the problem and keep the money-period. I don't care about the Superhost status anymore and am glad it got removed since I charge prices that problematic guests cannot afford to use as a drug den or local hook up site.

Welcome0
Level 10
Hicksville, NY

@Christine615 at KCMO, MO You nailed it! One of my House Rules addresses this very same issue. Parents and guardians are responsible for any damage done. No jumping on beds or furniture!  Also, no eating in bedrooms. Who wants to encounter sticky candy or yucky pizza under their beds?  You've invested thousands of dollars to give your guests a 5* stay, yet your partner Airbnb takes it upon themselves to sabotage your efforts! 

And absolutely no pets! Emotional support, cats, dogs, or jelly fish! Leave them with a friend or family! I love animals, but in their owners beds, not my Airbnb nor my personal bed. 

I do not tolerate animals jumping on sofas, beds nor people. Sounds heartless, but too many people have allergies! I am protecting my investment.

I agree. I will not allow anyone's pets here. I don't care what they call them. There are motels that can accommodate these people and not all Airbnb scenarios will be suitable. They can call it discrimination, etc-I don't care. I take on enough risk having guests in my home, I don't need the additional risk which Airbnb will not compensate for if damage is caused. Tough luck.

@Welcome0 @Russell49 

 

I love kids, but leave them with a friend or family! Let them stay in their parents' beds, not my Airbnb bed! I do not tolerate kids jumping on sofas, beds, or people. Sounds heartless, but too many people think they get a free pass because "kids will be kids." I am protecting my investment.

 

I will not allow anyone's kids here. I don't care what they call them. There are motels that can accommodate "these people" and not all Airbnb scenarios will be suitable. They can call it discrimination, etc-I don't care. I take on enough risk having adult guests in my home, I don't need the additional risk which Airbnb will not compensate for if damage is caused. Tough luck.

@Welcome0  I don't know why they do this, but I used to see my kids and I see my grandkids wipe their foodie hands on the underside of the table where they are sitting. Always a good idea to run the cleaning cloth over the underside of the table after you've had kids stay.

Kristina46
Level 10
Hawaii, United States

I'm an agency-experienced ad copywriter and I just checked the agency credits on these and some of their former ghastly spots. The agencies that did these spots are the blue-chip ones. chiat Day. Weiden Kennedy. Pretty shocked they would be so clueless as to create this terrible campaign that is at once precious, insulting, off target and most importantly fails to boost hosts, as the tagline ("made possible by hosts") intends them to. No one on the creative team must be a host. I see kids jumping on beds, playing with a valuable guitar, making tents in the living room with sheets and broomsticks.  Agency and marketing: You fail hosts once again. Come the hell on. Ridiculous! 

@Kristina46  I'd assume no hosts involved, and created either by childless milennials, or those who think their little darlings should be allowed to do whatever makes them happy.

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Kristina46 

It's not that there are no hosts involved..........Airbnb don't take any notice of them .

I am a relative newcomer having been here since 2015. Since that time I have been asked to take part in the Global Development team, I joined Airbnb support, I have been asked to take part in one on one chats to gain a hosts perspective. But, from the moment I joined Airbnb, hosts have been complaining about the same things with little or no remedial action on the part of Airbnb.

Every day on the CC pages the same old chestnuts keep coming up, threads from 4 years ago continue to be reactivated by new contributors with the same issue or wanting to know if a resolution has been offered for that problem they had those years ago.

And almost all long time hosts will tell you support and sincerity has progressively got worse since the departure of Chip Conley in 2017. Chip was (and is) a hospitality entrepreneur and understood that successful tourism marketing is a two way street.....there needs to be something in it for everyone!  

 

Greenhorn hosts, those newcomers coming into the industry thinking they are going to make a quick buck are a dime a dozen, and a cauldron of problems. Those long time experienced hosts that have seen it all and worked out strategies to be successful, should be like gold! These are the people Airbnb should be listening to, not some ad man who thinks that promoting a hosting platform is the same as that last soap powder commercial he made a success of!

 

Kristina, they are listening to the wrong people, but unfortunately they are not going to realise that until all the right people have gone.

 

Cheers........Rob 

Preach @Robin4 

Well said!

@Kristina46  Yes, I looked up WK after seeing that, to me, awful web site, and they're still getting agency of the year awards.  That tells me something about the state of advertising today, I guess. 

 

I don't know that the blame here falls on the ad agency as much as Airbnb, it is not difficult to tell the agency that the ads need to incorporate showing respect for the space, and it is pretty mind boggling that not a single person who would have seen and approved the campaign had a problem with a small child standing on a coffee table!