Fake ‘Idiot Ville’ commercial a ‘slap in the face’ to property ads

An online video that was meant to satirically address the housing problem in Hong Kong maybe a perfect demo to mock the stereotyped patterns of property ads in Hong Kong.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAXqiKfeQTU&feature=shareThe 30-second online video, created by production house Paper Scissors Stone, is a fake commercial promoting a fake new real estate interestingly named “Idiot Ville” (巧．岸居).It flows deceptively like most of the luxury real estate ads in Hong Kong that show almost nothing about the apartment interior, but sumptuous lobbies, glittering jewellery and exaggerated ocean views.Eva Chow, account executive at Paper Scissors Stone, told Marketing the parody commercial is meant to humorously respond to the land issues addressed by the Hong Kong government.“We believe the Hong Kong land issues remain unsolved due, in a big part, to the rapid growth of luxury real estate encouraged by the government in recent years.”The clip is from the firm’s latest pop-up project shown to visitors at its Fo Tan studio during the “Fotanian Open Studios” event, displaying a fake demonstration (是彈單位) unit based on a concept of “homeless”.Not only does the work make a sarcastic comment on the housing problem, it also reflects a sad fact there’s a never-changing mechanistic model in local real estate commercials that have lasted for a decade, literally.WELLESLEY 帝滙豪庭 (2016)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vm-5XGhnxQSun Hung Kai Properties office rental promo 新鴻基地產 寫字樓租賃(2016)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUki4Nwn6gUpton 維港峰 (2015)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy_M1PyGpNIDouble Cove 迎海．駿岸, 迎海．極御星灣 (2015)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnWN8lZ1T-Yhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loTLpTl-2Pw&list=PL8bpPneCfLjp1vorxKaogqAJPV0pR2p1V39 Conduit Road 天匯 (2014)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcUA8-1JcCkRiva 爾巒 (2014)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMPJUIpjgssThe Riverpark 溱岸8號 (2012)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L0-dC1MphY&list=PL8bpPneCfLjp1vorxKaogqAJPV0pR2p1V&index=10Oceanaire 天宇海 (2010)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjyCWPK9jZkVision City 萬景峰 (2008)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s1mlBut0yUGrand Promenade 嘉亨灣 (2007)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDECBDWukXYJardine’s Lookout 渣甸山 (2006)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9BfbXyemXU&list=PLESyiQ9HSk2oyPZ9L2urtaw6iM4JBuLSX&index=13Metro Town 都會駅 (2005)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7GLe9XSscEAnd that’s just the tip of the iceberg.Established last year by a team of three partners, Paper Scissors Stone has no experience in creating property ads for clients.A lot of research has been done to make the fake ad appear as real as possible, said Paper Scissors Stone graphic designer Shan Chow, who adds it’s not hard to find a template or pattern in local property ads to follow.The property and real estate industry spent HK$162.4 million in advertising last year as of October 2015, a 3% drop compared with the same period a year ago.