Does sex sell real estate? We’re not sure. But it certainly sells other things:
Coffee in Seattle. Car washes in Idaho (you been there Phil?). Haircuts . Burgers in Arizona (I know Jay’s been there). Hot wings. Roadside Lunch in North Carolina. Ice cream in Japan. Even shoe shines in San Francisco, back in the sixties. (between Columbus & Broadway I think–can’t find that link).
(I know it sells clothes too because I bought a pair of crummy pants from a pretty sales girl who said they looked great on me, [looking up as she knelt to straighten the cuff]).
Here are a few more examples touching on the hot topic of real estate porn– broker, agent edition:
A billboard ad from Corcoran, a well respected real estate broker in New York. If you read the case of People v. Santorelli , you could argue that a women could be substituted in the ad.
This from a contest by Rentusiast (a real estate blog across the pond):(The idea came from a Curbed contest )
How about Sexy Realty, a London real estate site playing the sexy agent card.
This Maryland real estate brokerage is going for the long tail top : Topless Beach Real Estate (looking at the pic, maybe they mean the head?)
We have even played the sex card in a few blog posts:
Do Sexy Brokers Have an Advantage? (we did cite some studies)
The Shirt Skirt Guide to Blogging
10 Marketing Tips You Can Learn from a Prostitute .
The Legal Right to Go Topless
But did you know that certain civil and Constitutional rights are involved here? For example, women have the legal right to go topless in public (at least in New York and Columbus, Ohio (is that true Maureen?) . In a 1992 case , the Court of Appeals in New York (the highest court in the state) ruled it was discrimination and against the Equal Protection clause of the US Constitution to prohibit women from doing what men can do– go topless. (Five women were “fighting the power” by removing their tops in a public park). Even the Bara Brost group in Sweden doesn’t like the double standard.
In fact, if you stop a woman from exercising her legal right in New York, it’ll cost you some hard cash. [Just recently, this guy decided to push the envelope and pranced around Times Square in his birthday jammies. He was taken into custody (guess he didn't get the memo that it's not legal to go bottomless in NYC).]
So, we predict (tongue firmly in cheek) it is only a matter of time before a topless real estate agency hits the news. It will probably be rentals to college students in Florida or California. [Tip to new business owner-- you better make it men and women.]
[Author's Note: We have examined the sex sells issue by focusing on women here ---but it applies to men as well, as evidenced by the Corcoran billboard ad. In fact, we'd argue, if the theory is true, that brokers should hire more sexy male agents, since single women are a growing market of real estate buyers. Just a theory.]
Technorati Tags: sex, real estate porn, agents, real estate brokers, marketing, topless, santorelli case
