Clothing Optional Community Pool...the next big wave in extreme marketing?
Just when I thought marketing schemes couldn’t get much wackier, I hear about The Arbors at Branch Creek in Tampa, Florida. Sales in this condo conversion community have been sluggish, so developers thought making one of the two pools in the community “clothing optional” might just bring sales back to life.
The AP article about the community states that the communit website shows a "barebacked woman meditating next to a steaming hot tub, and promises: “You’re going to be very comfortable with our dress code. Our residents are welcome to shed more than their inhibitions as they enter the gates of Eden. Because when our residents come home after a busy day in the working world, they want to completely unburden themselves, shed the trappings of the outside world … and be totally free.”
Uhhh… no, not really. I can’t think of anything that would make me less comfortable than sitting around my community pool wearing nothing but a smile and some sunblock, surrounded by naked people. The pretty model in the video aside, I’ll venture to guess that most of the “unburdened bods” who have freed themselves from the burden of a bathing suit are probably not anything I would want to see and they'd probably feel the same way about me. I know they’re calling it the “Gates of Eden”, but I’m pretty sure Adam & Eve never enjoyed a Big Mac, Fries & a shake.
I wonder if this idea will catch on? There are plenty of condo communities in the Chandler, Arizona area where sluggish sales are pretty common. If it does…maybe buying stock in sunblock would be a smart move.