DETROIT–One Super Bowl ad suggesting mortgages can be had with just one click of a button has been the subject of an almost immediate backlash.
The ad for Quicken Loans Rocket Mortgage, which was launched in late 2015, gave the impression a mortgage could be had as easily as downloading music from iTunes.
Push button get mortgage. That was the message Quicken Loans left viewers with at the end of its Super Bowl ad.
“Here's what we were thinking: what if we did for mortgages what the Internet did for buying music, and plane tickets and shoes?” the voiceover began as video showed consumers on their phones. “If it could be that easy, wouldn't more people buy homes?"
Soon after the ad appeared during the Super Bowl Twitter began to come alive with criticisms that Quicken Loans was looking to bring back another housing crash. Among the tweets:
- “Rocket Mortgage: explaining the 2008 financial crisis in one commercial.”
- “Thanks Rocket Mortgage for thinking the 08 housing crisis needed a sequel.”
- While not referencing the ad, the CFPB tweeted, “When it comes to mortgages, take your time, ask questions, and know before you owe.”
In response, Quicken Loans’ CEO, Jay Farner, told CNNMoney that the goal of the ad was to promote the convenience of the new app.
"I think that everyone is realizing it's time for the housing industry to advance, in our mind that is about transparency," Farner told CNNMoney.
The ad also stated that more home buying would be good for the economy, as the home purchases would lead to new spending on items such as like sectional couches, lamps and blenders.
Farner said that after the ad ran Rocket Mortgage’s website saw a spike of “thousands of people.”
On the Rocket Mortgage app consumers submit financial info, including income, and then can compare different mortgage products. According to Quicken Loans, it can approve a loan in as little as eight minutes.