Marketing agency BBH (Bartle Bogle Hegarty) is using Austin’s homeless population as walking, talking wifi hotspots, because that’s not completely wrong and deplorable or anything.
Seriously, where the fuck do you get off, BBH? This might seem – to marketing types – like one of those “let’s give back to the communuty!” ideas that is the kind of thing one thinks up when they spend $2,000 on rent without batting an eyelid.
But here’s the thing: BBH doesn’t give two shits about the homeless. Essentially, they’re making them wear shirts that advertise the wifi service, and having them march around downtown SXSW areas where hipsters congregate. Also: I just wrote the phrase “Hipsters congregate” and I’m not writing for LIFE magazine in 1963. Anyway, if you want to use the wifi, each person gives them roughly $2 to use the service for fifteen minutes. You know, to make yourself feel better about donating to a homeless dude.
The worst part is: I can see how this would make sense to a lot of people. There are many people out there who think that the homeless are something to steer away from and also feel sorry for, a weird western-world caste system. And people like to check their email, their Facebook. It’s an addiction. What better way to make yourself feel better than by parading around the homeless as your own personal wifi? The language isn’t “I have a wifi hotspot”. It’s “I am a wifi hotspot” – a small difference that highlights a much bigger problem: the identity of the human beings that you’re using as low-paid servants just so you can get your Instagram picture up. It’s a fucking disgusting practice.
While this sort of thing might work as a temporary fix and – on the plus side – put a few dollars into the pockets of Austin’s homeless, it doesn’t attack the real problem of homelessness. It just makes it walk around the party handing out hors d’oeuvres for two dollars a pop, proceeds of which go to a homeless shelter.
What happens after the SXSW party? While the donation is a blessing, the message used to bring it is fucking disgusting, and a massive lack of foresight on BBH’s part. Fire your fucking copywriter. Get someone who can portray the message better, because right now you look like the kind of company that thinks it’s perfectly OK to strip a fellow human being of their dignity and reduce them to a cheap service so a bunch of wankers can check the feedback on their blogs.
March 12, 2012 at 10:16 pm, MichelleRicky Andrews said:
Oh my goodness… this is so un-classy it's right on the other side of the line that represents exploitation. I'll admit, kindof humorous, but that dark humor that makes me want to smack someone.
March 12, 2012 at 10:17 pm, Laura Guzik said:
This is basically the same story as the one I heard on NPR ealier, but it is still a case of horrible judgement by the people involved.
(CBS News) The advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty's BHH Labs launched a campaign at the film, music and interactive festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas that is raising ire among critics.
In what appears to be a case of poor judgment, BBH Labs kicked off a campaign called "Homeless Hotspots." Yep. It is exactly what it sounds like – walking, talking homeless people who provide access to a 4G network in exchange for a donation (BHH Labs suggests $2 per 15 minutes).
The homeless people in question include Clarence from New Orleans, who lost his house to Hurricane Katrina, and Jeffrey from Pittsburgh who was treated for traumatic brain injury. Their short biographies are heart-wrenching, immediately evoking empathy for their situation.
The 13 men who have been chosen to participate in the program are roaming the streets of Austin in T-shirts that say "I am a 4G hotspot." The campaign has drawn ire from some who claim it's dehumanizing.
"The digital divide has never hit us over the head with a more blunt display of unselfconscious gall," said ReadWriteWeb's Jon Mitchell and wonders why their T-shirts say "I am a hotspot." Mitchell cited Content Magazine editor Erin Kissane's tweet, "Last thought before sleeping: the difference between 'I'm running a hotspot' and 'I am a hotspot' is a difference that matters."
"We are not selling anything. There is no brand involved. There is no commercial benefit whatsoever," BHH Labs responded to the criticism in a blog post. The problem is they are selling and branding something: their company. Not to mention, the company's current project "Underheard in NY." BHH Labs used that project to segue to the "Homeless Hotspots" campaign.
In a blog post on March 6, BHH Labs compared "Homeless Hotspots" with street newspapers, like San Francisco's Street Sheet or New York City's Street News. That analogy is troublesome because street newspapers serve to advocate the plight of homeless people by enabling them to work.
Typically, street newspapers are staffed by homeless people and report on topics that are relevant to their struggle. The newspapers are then distributed for free to the homeless, who can sell them on the streets in exchange for a donation. Using a human being as an Internet connection for a festival is not quite the same thing.
BHH Labs did admit their analogy was ill-conceived.
"The biggest criticism (which we agree with actually) is that Street Newspapers allow for content creation by the homeless (we encourage those to research this a bit more as it certainly does not work exactly as you would assume)," the BHH Labs said in a statement.
It's not just the lack of meaningful content that is bothersome. The "Homeless Hotspot" campaign turns these 13 men into a social experiment with apparently little merit.
"It was an honest attempt to help, but the chosen priorities left it with all model and no substance," said Mitchell.
March 12, 2012 at 11:23 pm, Jason Torres said:
I don't see a problem here.
Everyone starts yelling about human dignity and the like, but are they going to go to Austin and give Clarence the $50 he would have made that day? Are they going to give him a home or a job? No, of course not. They're going to tut tut it and then move onto the next HuffPo page and sip their lattes. Later that night they might remember the story again for a moment in outrage while they share it with their friends during a commercial while watching "Glee."
Get over yourselves.
It's the same thing as when people are scandalized by "freakshows." Everyone gets up in arms and condemns the freakshow, but no one asks the freaks if they feel exploited or like the exploiters.
It gives him a few bucks and doesn't hurt his dignity. It allows him to provide a service and make some income without having to resort to something REALLY nasty that you won't like.
March 13, 2012 at 12:57 am, Shinako Agogo said:
'Also: I just wrote the phrase “Hipsters congregate” and I’m not writing for LIFE magazine in 1963.'
Noted. All my giggles are belong to this.
March 13, 2012 at 11:18 am, Michele Chubirka said:
Seriously?
March 13, 2012 at 2:57 pm, Peter Parsons said:
are they remunerated at least?
March 13, 2012 at 11:58 am, Darren Saunders said:
Capitalism at its best.
March 13, 2012 at 2:29 pm, Frank Edwin said:
The guy on the blog uses "homeless" the way some used to use negro and a foul mouth doth not a debate make. Look, the PEOPLE that have chosen to take part wanted to do so. No one forced them and for this they get something. It is called WORK. If you are really so concerned, sell your computer along with all your worldly goods and give the proceeds to those for whom you are so concerned. That way, they are helped and you are off the web. That is called a win, win.
March 13, 2012 at 2:40 pm, Chris Sloan said:
My wife and I routinely give to the homeless. While I think this idea is odd, I question the author's contribution to the homeless beyond lip-service and tax payer subsidies.
March 13, 2012 at 3:58 pm, Travis Trotter said:
anything to make a buck, what a sad small little world.
March 13, 2012 at 6:26 pm, Larry Jordin said:
That so cool .I need a job ill do it 2. How can I do that
March 15, 2012 at 5:44 pm, Justin Cozart said:
Ned Hepburn…what have you done for the homelss lately? I agree with Jason 100% well said my man. You can write about your ethics on Homeless when you have done something greater, until then stop trashing the "do gooders" on the internet, where its forever documented in SEO land.