Airbnb Really Screwed Up With Ads About Paying Taxes

This hebdomad , Airbnb roll out a series of ads around San Francisco to raise awareness of the $ 12 1000 or so it farm for the city through hotel taxes . unhappily , the burden was passive - strong-growing — and it ’s now at the receiving conclusion of biting criticism .

The ads in query have been post on bus shelters and hoarding around San Francisco . In each type , they address a public service supplier , then propose a potential employment for some of those tax dollar mark . Like this :

Dear@AirbnbThese passive - belligerent omnibus kiosk ads are * not cool * No love , the librarianshttps://t.co/rdo39E7sdzpic.twitter.com/Lf3TCAYYbw

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— Jessamyn West ( @jessamyn)October 21 , 2015

https://twitter.com/embed/status/657043824875843584

https://twitter.com/embed/status/656965238093279232

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gratuitous to say , the reaction has n’t sit well with San Franciscans . Perhaps the best reaction yet is an opened letter from Martha Kenney , an adjunct prof at San Francisco State University , whowrote :

Dear Airbnb ,

I ’m happy to hear that you paid your taxes this year . I did too ! Is n’t it awful ? However , I ’ve crunched some numbers and I have some sorry intelligence for you . Out of your $ 12 mil of hotel revenue enhancement , only 1.4 % per centum extend to the SF Public Libraries . So that ’s $ 168,000 . split up by the 868 depository library stave , we have $ 193 per mortal . Assuming each employee works 5 day per hebdomad minus holidays , this is $ 0.78 per employee per day . Since that ’s importantly under San Francisco lower limit wage ( $ 12.25 / hour ) , I doubt that your hotel revenue enhancement can keep the libraries loose more than a minute or two later .

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However , had you donated that $ 8 million you spent fighting Proposition F like a shot to the public libraries you love so much , that could have made a bigger difference . Oh well . Hindsight is 20/20 !

beloved ,

Martha Kenney ( San Francisco resident )

Photo: Jae C. Hong

Ina statement made to SF Weekly , Airbnb apologized , explicate that “ the purpose was to show the hotel tax share from our host and guests , which is some $ 1 m per calendar month . It was the faulty feeling and we apologise to anyone who was offended . ”

Perhaps unsurprisingly , it ’s now taking the ads down .

[ SF Weekly ]

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