Put 50,000 down for a villa? Don't trust false advertising!

Compiled from The Paper
 
"170-square-meter villa with an extra-large garden, down payment only 50,000" "Townhouse special price 550,000, three floors above ground and two below" "Chinese-style courtyard house 700,000" — recently, a real estate agency in Yuyao, Ningbo, was penalized by market regulators for posting these false video advertisements on Douyin.

 
 

Case review
The Yuyao market regulation authorities discovered through online monitoring that a real estate agency company had posted real estate advertising videos on the Douyin platform. In the videos for certain property developments, phrases such as “A villa that 99% of Yuyao residents love, with a super large garden included, now available for a down payment of only 50,000 yuan for 170 square meters,” “Yuyao townhouses at a special price of 550,000 yuan, three floors above ground and two below,” “Yuyao Chinese-style courtyard houses, 158-180 square meters for 700,000 yuan, with private gardens,” and “Yuyao Liangnong villas at 600,000 yuan, three floors with a garden” appeared.

Law enforcement officers investigated the company. According to the person in charge of the intermediary company, the above advertisements corresponded to real estate projects such as “Xishang Mou Lu,” “Mou Han Li,” “Mou Mou Jin Ting,” and “Mou Mou Ya Yuan” in Yuyao, but the low down payments, special prices, and other claims in the advertisements were all false prices, used by the company as a means to attract traffic and increase customer inquiries.

The market supervision authorities determined that the intermediary's conduct constituted suspected price fraud. Pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law, they ordered the real estate intermediary to cease publishing advertisements, eliminate the adverse effects within the relevant scope, and imposed a fine of 20,000 yuan.
 
 
The [1] The People's Republic of China Advertising 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, industries across the board have rushed to use this emerging platform for advertising in hopes of gaining more attention, and the real estate industry is no exception. But how can one stand out among cookie-cutter video ads? Enter the gimmick. Unimaginably low prices, absurd perks, and idyllic surroundings have become the keywords used to grab eyeballs. This kind of “bait” that lures people in with “deals” that cannot actually be delivered is, in essence, deception. On one hand, this marketing tactic is unethical, as it not only drags down the standards of the real estate industry but also undermines the effectiveness of advertising as a whole. On the other hand, the law does not tolerate such unlawful conduct, as it constitutes fraud against consumers and unfair competition against other players in the market.

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.