Last week, Torontonians collectively lost their minds after a marketing campaign for a millennial-focused condo development went viral... for the wrong reasons.
The ad campaign for JAC condos, a project slated for the Carlton and Jarvis neighbourhood courtesy of Graywood and Phantom Developments, caused quite the stir on social media for its "cringeworthy" attempts at targeting Toronto millennials.
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According to the project's website, JAC Condos is said to be a "completely new kind of condominium lifestyle with tons of personality."
"Iconic on the outside, incredible on the inside. A vivid lifestyle, offering never before imagined amenities that will redefine authentic downtown living."
The ads for the condos, which are said to start at $400,000, are covered in buzzy phrases like "anything but basic," "living my best life," "Just went to Nuit Blanche, I'm pretty much an aristocrat now," along with"trash pandas," "you are going to love my shawarma spot," and "Toronto ft. everybody."
Why? Perhaps we'll never know, but the ads (and sayings) definitely got people talking. And, as you might imagine, Torontonians weren't having any of it, poking fun at the marketing campaign.
Is this the most cringy Condo advertising campaign? from r/toronto
But, following the response to the initial ad campaign, the team behind it has responded, seemingly embracing the backlash it encountered online.
A recently made Instagram account for JAC Condos shared a photo on Monday, featuring the same young woman skateboarding while dabbing (yes, at the same time) from the condo website, and filled with a new collection of sayings... sayings quoted directly from the social media backlash to the original campaign. Things like: "Toronto's cringing" and "an ad campaign made by 45-year-olds."
A message at the top of the photo reads "You don't know JAC," perhaps poking fun at all the people who were quick to judge the campaign.
And let's not forget the hilarious hashtags that were also included in the Instagram post, such as "#thatscringe," #cringememes," and "#wasteyutes" to name a few.
As the old saying goes, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Only time, and future buyers, will tell if that old saying, and JAC Condo's new ones, line up.
Toronto Storeys reached out to kg&a, the PR company representing JAC Condos, for comment but had not heard back by time of publication.
