Homeless 4G hot spot initiative publicity stunt
Do you ever find yourself wishing there were a way to get Wi-Fi while walking downtown? Some guys at a marketing firm in Chicago did, so they came up with the perfect solution for their predicament: Just get a homeless guy to carry around a router and a sign. Walk up, introduce yourself, pay him two bucks and there you have it. Internet access on the go!
This may sound like the premise of dystopian satire, but it’s actually a new “charitable experiment” unveiled this past week by marketing firm Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), called Homeless Hotspots (HH). The company hired thirteen homeless citizens from a local shelter in Austin to walk around the city wearing shirts that said, “I’M [FIRST NAME], AND I’M A 4G HOTSPOT,” followed by instructions on how to gain internet access from the routers each of them were given.
Various justifications were thrown around in an attempt to legitimize the campaign, the main argument being that BBH was simply leading a charity where all proceeds go directly to the homeless vendors.
Mark Horvath, founder of the We Are Visible campaign to spread awareness of poverty and homelessness via social media, spoke highly of the campaign: “Homeless Hotspots is a harmless and fun idea that provides a positive interaction between homeless people and the rest of you ... And even more important — [the homeless people involved] were given self-worth.”
Others back HH on the basis that it is optional and ultimately lucrative for its participants. A poll on MyFoxPhoenix’s website reflected this mentality in a majority of those asked whether or not the program dehumanizes the homeless; currently, the poll has about 60 percent of voters saying “No”
The concept of HH is not inherently debasing. The initiative gives participants the chance to communicate with other citizens and share their stories, thus spreading awareness of the prevalence and conditions of homelessness in the United States.
That being said, one can’t help to feel as though the campaign exploits those involved. It turns homeless people into technological hubs, dehumanizing them and turning them into commodities for people who need Wi-Fi. Those hired to be hot spots are not inclined to turn down an opportunity for work, no matter how degrading that work may be. BBH knows this, and deliberately acts upon their desperation in order to find willing participants.
The issue is not the program itself, which does directly benefit its participants and gives them a more socially comfortable means of attaining donations in comparison to panhandling. The issue is that it is run by BBH, a company with a history of using homeless charities as means of reaping media attention. If HH were run by a reputable organization genuinely interested in benefiting the homeless community, it would come across as less demeaning. But, as it stands, Homeless Hotspots seems to be nothing more than clever marketing disguised as a humanitarian effort to benefit the underprivileged.
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