By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Real estate ad pitting working moms against men sparks outrage
b705ceff6f025fb2fa0422585a01cfa1784d99d7c74506ef4e46266bbd0dc612
This is an obvious attack against working moms, many of whom choose real estate because it is difficult to work full time as a mother, but you need money to survive. Horrible, wrote one Facebook user. - photo by Tracie Knabe Snowder
SEATTLE A Washington state real estate ad pitting working moms against child-free men is going viral.

The real estate flier shows two side-by-side pictures of a female agent holding her kids in a chaotic scene at her home juxtaposed next to Chase and Jeffrey Costello smiling serenely, dressed in suit and ties. To make their point clearer, the ad reads: Part time agent vs. Full Time Professionals: Who would you rather represent you?

The ad, from Costello and Costello Real Estate Group, first showed up on the KIRO 7 Facebook news page is not sitting well with women.

This is an obvious attack against working moms, many of whom choose real estate because it is difficult to work full time as a mother, but you need money to survive. Horrible, wrote one Facebook user.

Honestly, as a working mom; should I ever be in the position to buy a home, I know who NOT to go through, wrote another user.

The company issued an apology via Facebook, according to KIRO 7:

"There are thousands of professional agents working in our area who are also dedicated mothers, including several members of our team. Our original hope with this message was to show the value of having a full-time agent in a competitive market, but we completely failed. We have the upmost (sic) respect for moms and working mothers, and we know that the job of a mother is far more demanding than what we do as real estate professionals. Again, we are truly sorry."

Real estate agent and mom Katlin Lee told Q13 Fox the apology was "lame."

"It was a terrible apology to say, 'Sorry we offended some people,'" she said. "That's not accepting responsibility for the content of this hurtful mailer that went out."

This isnt the first time the real estate company has come under fire. They were accused of firing an employee pregnant with twins in 2014 and allegedly said Danielle Campoamor's condition was too unpredictable, according to a piece written by Campoamor in the Seattle Times. A few weeks after she was fired, Campoamor lost one of her twin boys.

Costello and Costello has since taken down its social media accounts.
Sign up for our E-Newsletters