It’s never a good idea for businesses to plan a huge sale based off a holiday or memorial day where people lost their lives. One Calgary real estate agent learned this month.
Real estate agent Gary “Mr. Action” Fayerman decided it would be a great idea to use Remembrance Day, specifically an image of a soldier’s steel helmet surrounded by poppies, in an advertisement to sell apartments. The ad is tasteless featuring “Remember when price were this low?” as a tagline.
As the Calgary Herald reports, the Calgary community wasn’t thrilled with the advertisement, calling the ad “unbelievable,” “exploitative” and damning for the future of the business.
Fayerman admitted to the Herald he had no excuse to create the ad and that he was retracting it.
“It was stupid and ridiculous … I’ve retracted the ad and I’m very remorseful. I do apologize immensely. It was careless thinking.”
Following a Facebook commenters suggestion, Fayerman agreed to donate to the Calgary Poppy Fund, which helps out with Veterans Food Bank drives.
The advertisement was careless and in poor taste, but there was a positive outcome here. Fayerman appears to be genuinely remorseful and understands his business will likely suffer as a result of the ad. Donating to a vets charity is a good start to rebuilding his businesses now tarnished image.
