Hamilton residents not laughing at eviction joke

A "tongue-in-cheek" advertising stunt telling people they were being evicted from their homes has backfired, forcing a public apology from the company responsible.

The orange flyer, left, has "Home Eviction Notice" written on the front, but inside explains the benefits of Generation Homes' home and land packages.

It was sent to 15,000 Hamilton properties last week and while it generated some interest from potential buyers, it also upset a few. Generation Homes' Hamilton director, Alana Savage, yesterday apologised for any offence caused after receiving a barrage of complaints from Hamilton residents.

"They were really quite upset by it.

"We've had people leaving messages on our phone really swearing.

"People are very, very upset," she said.

One resident told the Times he was surprised to receive such a flyer.

While at second glance he realised it was a marketing ploy, it was obvious it would cause distress for some. "It was an ill-conceived promotion that will probably cost more sales than it achieves," he said.

Ms Savage said the company ran the same campaign recently in Auckland, where it was well received.

"In fact we sent out a follow-up `Final Eviction Notice', but we won't be doing that [in Hamilton] with the feedback we've had.

"It's been pretty passionate and they are really angry."

Ms Savage said the complaints came mainly from the older generation and their children – who rang on their elderly parents' behalf. One caller had said their father had recently died and when their mother saw the flyer, it had scared and upset her.

"I did say that I was sorry to hear they felt like that, but I thought if they'd opened it up they would have seen that it was meant with a bit of tongue in cheek." She said the campaign was meant to highlight how easy it was to move from an old home to a newly-built Generation Home.

"In hindsight it was not suitable for use as a general mail-out and I apologise for any anguish this may have caused those who misinterpreted the quirky advert."