Arizona’s AG halts Homie campaign
Business, state reach deal to end the ad effort
HomieforSenate real-estate signs across metro Phoenix are gone, and won’t be coming back.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has reached an agreement with the Utah real-estate firm to stop marketing itself as a political candidate.
Homie blanked Valley intersections with fake campaign signs that read “VoteforHomie,” “Significant Change” and “HomieforSenate” next to real candidate and election ads, confusing many voters.
The company’s website also encouraged consumers to submit their personal data in exchange for a free “Homie for Senate” T-shirt. The personal information requested included email addresses and phone numbers, raising concerns that Homie was improperly collecting consumer information for marketing purposes, the attorney general said.
“Getting accurate information before you vote is hard enough without businesses pretending to be candidates,” Attorney General Mark Brnovich said. “Additionally, businesses should not be collecting your personal information under false pretenses.”
As part of the deal with the state prosecutor, Homie also agreed to delete information it received from consumers on its fake political campaign website.
Many Valley real-estate agents were irritated with Homie marketing itself as a candidate.
“Those Homie signs piss me off,” said Christa Lawcock of Realty Executives. “They (the signs) reinforce wrongly to the general public that we Realtors are slimy with no oversight.”
The Arizona Department of Real Estate received complaints and started investigating the Homie signs.
“We believe the campaign complied with local laws and regulations, and the company worked cooperatively with the AG to make the purpose of the campaign clear,” according to a statement from Homie.