Marketing firm employees pose as Chinese condo buyers for TV report

Unbeknownst to the TV station that aired the item, the condo buyers were employees of Mac Marketing Solutions, a company specializing in resort and residential sales in this Canadian west coast city. For the piece, the employees posed as Chinese women hoping to buy high-end condos in Vancouver if their parents were willing to pay for the homes. According to the story, the parents were en route to Vancouver during the Chinese New Year—a holiday in which real estate companies cater to off-shore buyers.

While this may have been a convenient strategy to incite sales in a slow market, a local blogger did some digging and discovered the true identity of the women.

CTV British Columbia News, which aired the report, issued a statement to Canadian news site TheProvince.com saying they were “surprised” at the situation, but were also planning a follow-up story.