And Now… Homeless People Used as Wi-Fi Hotspots
March 12th, 2012Via: BuzzFeed:
At SXSW, the annual tech startup conference in Austin, 13 homeless men are hanging around the conference center wearing white shirts that say “I’m _____, a 4G hotspot.” Each is carrying a wireless internet device, and for a PayPal donation, will provide conference-goers with internet access for as long as they want. .
The men are part of a campaign called “Homeless Hotspots,” devised by a marketing firm called BBH. It effectively debuted today, and started backfiring immediately.
The first person to flag the stunt as a little off was the New York Times’s David Gallagher, who called the plan it “a little dystopian.”
Reminds of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer and Newman are going to hire the homeless to pull rickshaws for alternative/green transportation in New York City.