Greek landlords are demanding the withdrawal of a television advert campaign for bank mortgages, complaining they are being depicted as anti-social, racist, rude, or “simply pathetic”.
The campaign is aimed at luring renters to buy property instead.
“Do you have foreign friends that aren’t European?” one landlord is shown asking a potential tenant in the advert. “Do you wear high heels?” asks another. “What do you mean, you work at night?” presses a third landlord.
“Why stay at their place, on their terms?” concludes the spot. “Get your own place, on your terms.”
In a letter to the Greek banking union, the federation of Greek property owners (Pomida) demanded the immediate withdrawal of the campaign, saying it them seem “anti-social, racist, rude, indiscreet, greedy or just simply pathetic”.
“Female owners, in particular, are often portrayed like… heirs of Madame Thenardier from Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables,” it said.
Pomida said the advertising campaign had intensified in recent days in expectation of a rise in Greek property acquisition tax.
“It is unacceptable that banks that rent money should defame hundreds of thousands of Greeks that rent homes,” it said. “[Besides], the behaviour of some banks towards…their debtors is not much better than that of the home-owners and landlords that are being caricatured.” — AFP