Airbnb igloo and subsequent shutdown is a PR stunt and that’s OK

By Rich Leigh on Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Have you seen the guy that build and listed an igloo on Airbnb?

If not, here’s the story. A guy built and listed a ‘2 person igloo’ in New York City on Airbnb. For $200 a night.

This comes after the record-breaking blizzard that’s dumped ‘about 26 inches of snow on the city’, according to the above link:

Need a place to #IglooAndChill? Come stay in the #IndiaStreetIgloo on @Airbnb. https://t.co/9mvBkLiFQm @VICE pic.twitter.com/Li637pKeP9

— Patrick M. Horton (@patrickmhorton) January 24, 2016

Now, I’m not having it that this is anything other than PR. @ing Vice in is one thing (here’s their mention of it). The pithy summary below is another:

“Dripping with ingenuity and alt-lifestyle aura lays this snowpocalypse’s most desirable getaway. Built completely by hand all natural. Come experience this chic dome-style bungalow with Bae.”

This has been cleverly crafted by Airbnb and they can fight me to the death if they want to say otherwise. And now, the ‘Boutique Winter Igloo for 2’ has been, SHOCK HORROR and according to Mr Horton, bumped from the site by Airbnb for ‘not meeting occupancy standards’:

Got shut down by @Airbnb for not meeting occupancy standards. Though they were nice enough to tell us that it looked very well constructed. — Patrick M. Horton (@patrickmhorton) January 25, 2016

Giving two PR bumps – the first, the irreverent and topical story itself, the second, the climbdown, helpfully covered by high-DA, high-traffic sites including Mashable, ABC News and the Telegraph.

So, I’m calling it what it is and congratulating Airbnb’s PR team on a job well done.