I think it is an awesome idea, and no one should care that your logo is on their t-shirt. You are doing a good deed and a public service all at once. You are supplying a homeless person with a t-shirt that is clean and could potentially lead to them landing a job as well.
Exactly - there's a reason why it's pretty girls that get used in advertising, car shows etc, and not old drunks. Giving the t-shirts to college girls would be a much better idea.
its called alternative marketing or alternative media here are some more ideas -. http://www.advertisingview.com/Alternative-Media-advertising-agency.htm
There is a pizza company in Seattle that gives homeless people a sign that says something like "ABC Pizza Pays me to hold this sign so i dont have to ask you for money". It seems to work well with the people passing by on the streets and they also receive tv and print media attention (that may have been their main goal, who knows). I dont know the legalities behind it though.
Wow, initially I thought this was wrong and I laughed quite hard about it, but now I think I might give it a shot... $5/t-shirt - $10 to the homeless... $450 budget... 30 homeless people participating... one call to the local news who will run any bs story they can find = excellent publicity! Kinda makes me feel like the guy from bum fights tho.
I like your idea! Thanx for it...I'd like to discuss it... Firstly, to implement this innovation you should make the acquaintance of many homeless people...Or do you know a lot? Secondly, T-shirts. Can you order for example 1000 T-shirts? How much is it? Then you should create interesting image of your product, it would be great to use bright colours as banners... Thirdly, some in this thread said that noone would want to see and use the ad on the back of homeless man. A lot of people try to avoid them. Thus you have to put their appearence in order:shaving, cutting hair and so on... Lastly you even won't notice when you become Teresa Mother... I strongly advise you to start!
It's a good idea theoretically but you have to remember homeless people are pretty volatile at times and can be very unpredictable . Offer them a t-shirt , fair enough you don't have much to lose. But I wouldn't trust them to give anything out or do any hard work.
Well, im not going to take hundreds of dollars in cash with me down to Detroit. But I am definately going to get some shirts made and take them to the next Tigers game I go to. Since I always tailgate before the game, homeless people always come up to us and ask for money. I'll bring extra beer and the shirts, and give them a beer a shirt instead of the money. No way they could turn that down. Going to be SWEEEEET!
Yes! Fucking homeless! You can't trust them! Somebody has a great idea here: exploiting homeless for advertising purpose Of course, the wage would be a couple of bucks! What a great idea! Hire homeless people - Provide a normal wage If not, you are just exploiting poverty Unbelievable
how do you know that these homeless people won't do something stupid and as a result would reflect badly on your business?
What's wrong with just giving a shirt? The homeless person gets something for nothing and the the advertising may happen to earn something back for the website.
hahaha nice idea but i don't think it would be that effective. no one really pay attention to them BUT then again... if a bum was carrying around a sign with a URL on it it may turn my head
Here's the problem: First, yes, you may appear to be exploiting them. Also, folks have very negative associations with the homeless. If you want to do this, do something really cool: Find a few homeless folks, help them get cleaned up and fed, then hire them as employees to do this work. You'll get great PR, do a great thing, and probably get good exposure, too.
Let's way the options... give them a t-shirt and some cash, or whatever... OR Find some homeless people, give them a place to live, clean them up, feed them, and hire them. Going from a little bit of a cash investment to a huge investment... I think most homeless people would be happy with a new clean t-shirt and a little money, but I could be wrong. Also, homeless people are usually addicted to drugs... not the sort of thing I would be looking for in an employee. I can see it now, I walk into the restroom and there's the homeless guy, trippin on acid and shooting up.
How ironic it would be to have them give out those dollar marketing cards with your website on it! I could picture a homeless person giving me what looks like real money
Perhaps this is poor form of me, but I snickered at the thread title and subject On a serious note, I would stay away from it, not like I am some expert but just my opinion. For one, don't want to offend anyone, or make people think you are taking advantage of the less fortunate. Also, perhaps not politically correct to say, although I might be fascinated by a homeless person marketing a product, I cannot say it will instill a respect for the product, I might be more inclined to think "ew".