Compiled from The Paper
 
"A 170-square-meter villa with a super large garden, down payment only 50,000" "Townhouse special price 550,000, 3 floors above ground and 2 below" "Chinese-style courtyard house 700,000" — Recently, a real estate agency in Yuyao, Ningbo posted these false video ads on Douyin and was penalized by the market supervision department.

 
 

Case review
Yuyao market regulation authorities discovered through online monitoring that a real estate agency posted real estate advertising videos on the Douyin platform. Some videos for certain properties included phrases such as "A villa liked by 99% of Yuyao people, with a large garden, now buy with a down payment of only 50,000 yuan for 170 square meters," "Yuyao townhouse, special price of 550,000 yuan, three floors above ground and two below," "Yuyao Chinese-style courtyard, 158-180 square meters for 700,000 yuan, with a private garden," and "Yuyao Liangnong villa for 600,000 yuan, three floors with a garden."

Law enforcement officers investigated the company. According to the head of the agency, the advertisements corresponded to Yuyao properties such as "Xishang Mou Lu," "Mou Han Li," "Mou Mou Jin Ting," and "Mou Mou Ya Yuan." However, the low down payments and special prices advertised were false prices, used as a means to attract traffic and increase customer inquiries.

Market regulation authorities determined that the agency's actions constituted price fraud. In accordance with relevant provisions of the Advertising Law, the agency was ordered to stop publishing the advertisements, eliminate the impact within the corresponding scope, and was fined 20,000 yuan.
 
 
《[1] The People's Republic of ChinaAdvertising Law
[6] Article 28
An advertisement that deceives or misleads consumers with false or misleading content constitutes a false advertisement.
An advertisement falls under false advertising in any of the following circumstances:
(1) The goods or services do not exist;
(2) Information about the performance, function, origin, use, quality, specifications, composition, price, producer, shelf life, sales status, or awards of the goods, or information about the content, provider, form, quality, price, sales status, or awards of the services, as well as promises related to the goods or services, does not match the actual situation and has a substantial impact on purchasing behavior;
(3) Using fabricated, forged, or unverifiable scientific research results, statistical data, survey findings, abstracts, quotations, or other information as supporting materials;
(4) Fabricating the effects of using goods or receiving services;
(5) Other situations where consumers are deceived or misled by false or misleading content.
 
 
[1] The author's perspective
Since the rise of short videos on the internet, various industries have been using this emerging platform to advertise, hoping to gain more attention, and the real estate industry is no exception. But how to stand out among the countless similar video ads? Gimmicks were born. Unbelievably low prices, unreasonable benefits, and unique environments have become keywords for grabbing attention. This practice of luring people in with "deals" that are actually unattainable is essentially deception. On one hand, this promotional approach is unethical, not only lowering the standards of the real estate industry but also affecting the effectiveness of advertising in the industry. On the other hand, the law does not permit such illegal behavior, as it constitutes fraud against consumers and unfairness to other competitors.

Thus, even when promoting through online media, one must be careful with wording and methods. Exaggerating blindly not only fails to attract customers but also raises suspicion, and may even damage one’s brand reputation and platform credibility, ultimately leading to more harm than good.