Who: The Canadian Real Estate Association, Union, Soft Citizen (production).

What: “Total Regret in My Heart”

When & Where: The campaign debuted Monday with TV and online pre-roll. Other campaign elements include radio and digital banners, all driving to a dedicated website.

Why: It’s part of the organization’s ongoing awareness effort underscoring the importance of realtors. CREA represents more than 125,000 realtors from 90 real estate boards and associations across the country.

How: Once upon a time they were falling in love with their new house… The campaign uses humour—and singing—to spotlight home buyers who made ill-advised purchase decisions because they didn’t use a realtor. The spots show them singing about their home’s proximity to a sewage plant or other aggravations like non-stop construction and mosquitoes—all set to the music of Bonnie Tyler’s bombastic ’80s hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

And we quote: “There are so many little things that can go wrong when you buy or sell property without a realtor. This campaign demonstrates that in a playful, memorable way that gets stuck in your head.” —Costa Poulopoulos, vice-president of the CREA board of directors.