Airbnb removes adverts in San Francisco and apologises for "poor judgement"
Airbnb has promised to take down a number of posters that tell public utilities in San Francisco how to spend the money they receive from taxes. In a series of posters placed across the city, the company gave libraries, schools and parking attendants advice for using the estimated $12m in hotel taxes paid by Airbnb hosts and guests. "Dear Public Library System," read one message displayed next to a library. "We hope you use some of the $12 million in hotel taxes to keep the library open later." However, these messages were not greeted kindly by the public, who have been quick to remind Airbnb that they should have been paying taxes for years, and are only now starting to do so. Twitter responses to the ads have run along this theme: “Dear Airbnb. I'm happy to hear that you paid your taxes this year. I did too! Isn't it awesome?". The company have apologised and are removing the ads immediately.

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Airbnb’s latest advertising campaign in San Francisco doesn’t appear to have gone down well with some local residents. In ads seen as whiny and passive-aggressive, Airbnb appears to be telling the city how it should spend its money on public projects.

The backlash has forced Airbnb to apologize:

We apologize for Wednesday’s SF ads. They displayed poor judgment and do not live up to the values and humanity of our global community. — Airbnb (@Airbnb) October 22, 2015

The company was venting over the beef it has with San Francisco’s regulators, with ads that popped up on billboards and bus stops around the city. Airbnb has since confirmed to SF Weekly that the ads will be taken down.

Let’s briefly backtrack.

After years of avoiding taxes, Airbnb finally agreed to pay of several million dollars of back-taxes in February. It had, until that time, refused to pay San Francisco’s 14 percent hotel tax, which over the years may have amounted to as much as $25 million.

Pressure from San Francisco’s proposed ballot initiative, Proposition F, which wants to restrict unregistered short-term rentals from companies like Airbnb, seems to have played heavily into this latest ad campaign (read more about that here).

Airbnb is now spending $8 million to fight the initiative tooth and nail, arguing that the city won’t be able to collect as many tax dollars from its services if the ballot is pushed through.

Despite agreeing to pay the back-tax in February, Airbnb is still arguing that San Francisco is unfairly trying to double-tax its hosts, as well as accessing users’ personal data. But in a sign of mounting pressure, in August it agreed to collect taxes on rentals in Paris — now its biggest market worldwide.

Here’s the statement Airbnb offered SF Weekly:

The intent was to show the hotel tax contribution from our hosts and guests, which is roughly $1 million per month. It was the wrong tone and we apologize to anyone who was offended. These ads are being taken down immediately.

You can check out some examples shared on social media below:

Dear @Airbnb These passive-aggressive bus kiosk ads are *not cool* No love, the librarians https://t.co/rdo39E7sdz pic.twitter.com/Lf3TCAYYbw — jessamyn west (@jessamyn) October 21, 2015