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| Clarence Jones worked as a mobile hot spot at the South by Southwest conference. |
Use of Homeless as Internet Hot Spots Backfires on Marketer
By JENNA WORTHAM
Published: March 12, 2012
AUSTIN, Tex. -- Which product at this year’s South by Southwest technology conference received more attention than perhaps any other?
Homeless people as wireless transmitters.
A marketing agency touched off a wave of criticism and debate when it hired members of the local homeless population to walk around carrying mobile Wi-Fi devices, offering conferencegoers Internet access in exchange for donations.
BBH Labs, the innovation unit of the international marketing agency BBH, outfitted 13 volunteers from a homeless shelter with the devices, business cards and T-shirts bearing their names: “I’m Clarence, a 4G Hotspot.” They were told to go to the most densely packed areas of the conference, which has become a magnet for those who want to chase the latest in technology trends.
Follow the full story here.
Students: How and where is this story being covered elsewhere? Post links and your reactions to this practice of hiring the homeless as Wi-Fi hot spots in our comments section.
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| Regulars at the Austin Resource Center for the homeless. photo by Ben Sklar for The New York Times. |
It's true that for "Homeless" people is hard to re-generate in the situation they find themselves. Inside the "box" it seems to be a good cause by giving "homeless" people an opportunity to change their lifestyle, but looking from an outside perspective it seems that they are being used as a tool. For obvious reasons "Homeless" people don't have money neither personal hygiene but it doesn't make them less from society, they might have had no choice or opportunity to live but as a "Homeless". Still, they are still human beings and not an object that can be used and thrown away whenever its needed.
ReplyDeleteAndrea Lopez
English 1A
Andrea,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I appreciate reading your perspective.
--Christopher McCabe