While watching an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, you might see Jeff Goldblum 10 times. Not because he once joined the cast in 2009, but because he’s the spokesperson for Apartments.com, owned by real estate company CoStar Group, which has purchased ample ad space on Peacock. In chic, mirrored glasses, Goldblum is quirky as ever, helping us find that new, better apartment. But his appearances were only the beginning of CoStar’s star-studded media blitz: During the Super Bowl last week, it kicked off a multimillion dollar advertising campaign for Homes.com featuring another bespectacled favorite, Dan Levy, with comedian and Saturday Night Live cast member Heidi Gardner.
The four commercials that aired during the big game—three for Homes.com and another for Apartments.com—are a package that CoStar is touting as “the biggest advertising campaign in real estate history.” The New York Times estimates that the Super Bowl slots’ total spend was around $35 million of the campaign’s total $1 billion budget.
While difficult to verify Homes.com’s actual growth, that kind of expenditure matches CoStar’s claim that it’s the fastest-growing real estate listing site in the industry. Since launching it in 2021, CoStar has sold the site as a better alternative to Redfin, Zillow, and Realtor.com; the Times story notes that CoStar has publicly critiqued their competitors for their “tactics to lure in home shoppers and then sell their contact information to dozens of anonymous real estate agents.” A spokesperson for Redfin clapped back, noting that realtors must pay to advertise themselves on Homes.com, and that such a large marketing expenditure amid turmoil over commission fees at the National Association of Realtors, “would only drive up [realtors’] costs.”
In fine print, Homes.com notes that the $1 billion price tag includes “all marketing activities and our investment to build proprietary neighborhood content in 2023 and 2024.” The Super Bowl ads spell this out in no uncertain terms, with Levy and Gardner doing reconnaissance in a branded helicopter by flying from small town parks, to farmers’ markets, and even to a high school football game. Each commercial ends with the two celebs flying off, the helicopter’s thrust of air wreaking havoc on the neighborhoods they visit.
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