Bumvertising- Using the homeless to advertise your product

http://www.adrants.com/2005/07/agency-pays-homless-people-to-promote.php

Has anyone used this way of advertising? It seems like it could be effective, but it could scar your brand image.

On one hand you are paying homeless people and giving them employment, but on the other you are exploiting them...what are your thoughts?

 

hey, they are like billboards. not sure if people would trust the word of a homeless person - shop at XXXX. I got a great deal there so you can you.

 

I heard about a guy out in California or Washington who advertised his poker site using homeless people...it angered a lot of people...

 

people were upset that the homeless guy had gainful employment?

 

"I got $3 to work for the day and all I have to show for it is this stupid sign"

This is a great idea, I saw this on the daily show actually

 

They were upset because they thought he was being used

 

I read an article several months ago about a Pizza shop owner in the northwest somewhere that used this as his primary source of marketing. It did get people upset, but it also created a huge buzz and garnered a lot of business for the pizza shops.

I like the idea. If the homeless are willing to do it and actually get paid what they are promised, how can it be exploitation? If the advertiser didn't pay up at the end of the day, that's exploitation.

 

Little kids in the far east get what they are promised but thats still exploitation

 

I Wouldn't want to use that kind of advertising for my brand.

I would be in favor of distributing warm clothes with my company logo on it.

 

Viral Marketing

 

Actually besides exploitation it could be a waste of money.

Not to say that we shouldn't help the homeless, but if you look at it from the advertising aspect, many people overlook them . . .kinda blind to them.

That would, of course, include the sign (unless the thing was HUGE).

I do think it would tarnish your image.

Skinny

 

Well, if your site was a poker or porn site then you wouldn't really have to worry about your image getting tarnished...

 

That strategy gets the dumbest idea of 2005 award. Why on Earth would anyone want to use a homeless person to advertise their service/product?

 

Well, according to the message on that cardboard sign, it's making up a story about how the guy became homeless, because he didn't use GoGORILLA Media. In my opinion, this is making a mockery of the homeless person's real-life unfortunate situation and I think that's a form of exploitation. If it was an actor, maybe that might be ok, but not a real homeless person, I think that's wrong.

 

If you bought a homeless person a nice jacket to wear to make them look respectable and paid them a reasonable wage they could deliver flyers.

I dont think that would be exploitation especialy if you are paying them something worth while

 

I was planning to try this on a poker site at some point soon....

I read about it ages ago and loved the idea, but that moral issue keeps cropping up in the back of my head.

I think I'll chuck up an affiliate site to test it first and see if I can get any sigups.

Still not sure about the moral thing though...

Saying that - If I piad £50 a week or something, that's not a bad bif of cash for them...

 

Thats it. 50$ a week could feed them for the week.

They are probably in a postion where they cant get work (no home address, no phone line, no where to wash and get ready for work).

No disrespect but whos gonna give them a job.

$50 a week could help change there lives in the long run.

ps. You could even make one team leader and have him manage the whole homeless community, or is that going to far

 

No that sounds ideal if it actually worked...

You could end up with a monopoly all over london

 

It's a viral marketing idea designed to get the press to say how scandalous the whole thing issue of exploiting the homeless is. The company involved gets acres of press and blog exposure, etc, etc.

 

I know, which is why I quite liked the idea...

It won't have the same impact second time round, but I bet you can still make a bit out of it.