In humorous pratfalls, somebody gets hurt in order to make others laugh. In eBay's newest 30-second TV commercial spot, the joke's on homebuyers. New homeowners are shown pulling the "for sale" sign from the yard in front of their new home, and immediately, the home begins to self-destruct. The commercial ends with the owners sticking the sign back into the ground.

Homes do self-destruct, not in 30 seconds, but over a period of years. It could be argued that eBay was merely spoofing the life cycle of homebuying. You buy a home, and things break down. You fix them, and then you sell. That's one of the many reasons people buy and sell homes, to move on to something better.

But did the commercial have some other agenda? RE/MAX International Inc. thought so and promptly slapped eBay Inc. with a state and federal trademark infringement suit, alleging that the signage used in the commercial features colors and design which is too similar to its own established logo. As one of the nation's largest franchise organizations with an arguably easily recognizable logo, the company is afraid that TV viewers will be left with the impression that RE/MAX "typically engages in the sale of homes that are in disrepair or otherwise unsuitable for habitation," according to the complaint.

So what is making RE/MAX so touchy? After all, eBay allegedly picked RE/MAX's colors to spoof, not Century21's, or Prudential's. Why not respond with humor, the way Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro do when they are lampooned on NBC's Saturday Night Live? They surprise and delight the audience by showing up on the set, and confronting the show's cast with mock anger. It's all in good fun.

But Nicholson's grin and DeNiro's head-nodding aren't trademarked. RE/MAX's logo is, with over $2 billion spent to develop the brand image since 1974. And, Realtors are tired of being the butt of jokes. They're the target for every new dotcom idea to come along which is based upon getting between Realtors and their commissions. It's just not funny anymore, and RE/MAX's lawsuit says so.

Why eBay's Blunder Is Bigger Than That

eBay's ad firm could go up for a Clio award with the cleverness of its spot, but as far as helping its client eBay achieve its goals, the company deserves to go up for review instead. Why? Somebody didn't do enough homework. That could have been eBay's fault if they didn't convey the right information. Like what the company's goals really are. If they had, the ad team would have learned three key things that might have resulted in a totally different campaign. They would have learned that eBay needs Realtors more than consumers. The site, as large as it is, simply isn't attracting enough listings. As of January 12, 2001, the site only posted 205 listings in its real estate section. Realtor.com, by contrast, advertises that it has 1.4 million. If you were a consumer looking for property, where would you rather go?

So, eBay, if you want Realtors and their listings, you need to be aware of three cardinal rules.

Rule #1: Don't make fun of Realtors.

Rule #2: Don't mess with their money

Rule #3: Don't get between Realtors and consumers

Now, why is not getting between Realtors and their commissions and customers important? eBay is the world's largest consumer-to-consumer marketplace where auctions are the primary means of conveying new and second-hand goods. eBay is already aware that the auction model doesn't work as well for homes and has adjusted its consumer-to-consumer rules accordingly. Bids are not binding on homes. The company has struck a deal with HomeSeekers to leverage their expertise in the Realtor/portal segments to create a new real estate section, a strong signal that the business model for eBay real estate is about to change.

And there's only one way to do that. Attract Realtors. eBay is in a particularly good place to do that since other companies are fleeing the consumer real estate models. Only a few listing sites remain now that CyberHomes, Realestate.com, iOwn.com, and others have left the field. That means there will be some opportunity to sell lead generation tools and services to Realtors in exchange for advertising their listings. Although eBay and HomeSeekers have not revealed their plans, it is a certainty that whatever is in the works will require that Realtors pay fees or buy services to make the site go.

If the site isn't Realtor-friendly, eBay is going to have a hard time convincing Realtors why they should bother.

Part II - Find out What Happened To Others Who Broke The Rules? tomorrow on Agent News.