Tradeoff: Convert Home into Billboard, Get Free Mortgage

Smartphone advertising firm, Adzookie, has pitched an innovative proposal to home owners: the company wants to paint your house into a conspicuous billboard.
Tradeoff: Convert Home into Billboard, Get Free Mortgage
4/13/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/AdzookieBillboardHouse.jpg" alt="EYE-POPPING: Models of homes painted with Adzookie ads.  (Courtesy of Adzookie)" title="EYE-POPPING: Models of homes painted with Adzookie ads.  (Courtesy of Adzookie)" width="575" class="size-medium wp-image-1805593"/></a>
EYE-POPPING: Models of homes painted with Adzookie ads.  (Courtesy of Adzookie)
Smartphone advertising firm, Adzookie, has pitched an innovative proposal to home owners: the company wants to paint your house into a conspicuous billboard. In exchange, they will pay your monthly mortgage for as long as your house remains painted.

“We’re looking for houses to paint,” says Adzookie’s website. “In fact, paint is an understatement. We’re looking for homes to turn into billboards.”

The custom paint job will take three to five days to complete and will include the entire house, minus the roof, windows, and awnings.

Interested candidates must own their home and be willing to have their house painted for a minimum of three months, but the agreement may be extended for up to a year. After three months, if the agreement is cancelled, Adzookie will paint your house back to its original colors.

Within hours of going live with the pitch, Adzookie received more than 1,000 applications. CEO Romeo Mendoza told CNN, “It really blew my mind. I knew the economy was tough, but it’s sad to see how many homeowners are really struggling.” There was even a church among the list of applicants.

On their website the company warns applicants about the bright colors and potential stares from neighbors. Applicants must write why they would like their homes painted. They are also requested to “Like” Adzookie on Facebook. Currently, 2,483 people like the company.

Painting is expected to begin within weeks. Mendoza’s California-based company was launched just over a year ago. The company places advertisements on smart phones and hopes publicity from this program will gather interest.

But, realistically, there won’t be many homes that make the cut. CNN reports, “Mendoza’s budget for the entire program is $100,000, and he expects to spend about $8,000 per house on the painting alone.”

Even without any houses painted, recent publicity may have already raised Adzookie’s profile and met Mendoza’s expectations.

The program certainly stretches conventional notions of single-family home usage, blurring the lines between residential and commercial spaces. It also seems – if homes do get painted with Adzookie’s bright and colorful arrangement – the science of curb appeal will be challenged perhaps more than ever before.