Ricacorp Properties in HK defends ad with female agent in towel lying in bathtub

Ricacorp Properties has defended its recent video ad, which has triggered heated discussions as the female agent starring in the ad was seen lying in a bathtub wearing just a towel. While the ad has since been removed to protect the agent from cyber bullying and doxxing, a statement by Ricacorp released on 27 August 2022 stated that the idea behind the video ad performed by a frontline agent as a model as quite “novel” and that the female agent was wearing t-shirt and shorts under the towel.

The video ad was seen to introduce "Upper Riverbank", a new housing estate developed by Longfor Properties, located at 11 Muk Tai Street in Kai Tak, providing 667 units. The project has been completed, and it is reportedly to be selling about 70 units. 

Chan was seen to be clad in purely a pink towel while sitting in a spacious bathtub of a unit of the Upper Riverbank apartment. “Don’t worry, I saw this beautiful bathtub in the master bathroom and thought it was not fair if I didn’t take a bath here,” she said in the ad.

Chan added that it is rare to find such a huge bathtub as this is usually seen in landed properties. Later, Chan said to the cameraman “You’ve seen enough” while covering her chest with one hand before signaling the viewer to go away.

The video which went viral shortly after its launch saw many netizens commenting on the communications strategy of the company. Negative comments are seen on social forums such as LIHKG, with some saying that's what Sammi Chan, a senior account manager of Ricacorp Properties, did to get the eyeballs of potential investors. 

Most media mentions about the story were generated on 27 and 28 August, according to Charles Cheung, GM of social listening firm CARMA. "Netizens had mixed reactions to the story. Many found the video 'unprofessional', 'unnecessary', and that it affects the impression of the real estate industry. However, LIHKG users seem to believe otherwise. A number of users thought the video wasn’t as inappropriate as what the general public suggested. Some even praised Riacorp for supporting its employee," Cheung added. 

Addressing concerns, Ricacorp said in the statement that it noticed a number of negative sentiments online regarding the video and “some are targetted at individuals" and "some even took screenshots or clips to render, mislead, and personally attack the frontline colleague.”

Ricacorp also clarified that the model in the video ad was wearing a t-shirt and shorts under the towel. “In order to present an effect of a spacious bathroom and huge bathtub, that model did not undertake indecent actions or inappropriate expressions in the whole video; and before the short film was released, it had been reviewed, and there was no indecent content in the film. Once the video was out, it was also confirmed and agreed by the seller.” (必須要強調的是，該前線同事介紹浴室的片段中，是穿着短身衫褲再披上毛巾，為要表現出寬敞浴室和特大浴缸的效果。該前線同事在全片中，都沒有不雅舉動或不洽當的表述；而在短片發出前，已經過審視，影片內容不存有任何不雅地方。短片完成製作後，亦經賣方確認同意。) 

“Although this short video is highly discussed online, it was arbitrarily distorted by some people [where] some netizens were also misled, making this short video deviate from the intention of introducing the real estate.” said the statement. It also said that the incident has wasted the efforts of the entire production team. After the short film was out, the model was subjected to unnecessary personal attacks, and was even "doxxed" and "retouched" online, the statement added.

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