Homeless hotspots plan causes controversy for BBH ad agency

Google Maps was used to alert the public to where the Homeless Hotspots participants were

An "experiment" which involved using homeless people as mobile wi-fi hotspots has attracted criticism, forcing the advertising agency behind it to defend itself.

A division of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) equipped 13 homeless people with 4G mifi devices in Austin, Texas.

It suggested the public pay $2 (£1.30) for 15 minutes access to the net.

Comments posted to the BBH's site accused the project of being "unseemly" and "wrong".

Members of Twitter asked "what has this world come to?" and accused the project of being a "gimmick".

However, others praised the idea as being "inspirational" and a chance to create a "positive interaction between the public" and homeless people.

A blog update by BBH's skunkworks unit noted that "there's an insane amount of chatter about this, which although certainly villainises us, in many ways is good for the homeless people we're trying to help".

The firm noted that its project had raised the issue of homelessness at the South by Southwest tech festival which it had been timed to coincide with. It also noted that each of the "hotspot managers" would keep the money that they earned.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17345903

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Comment by Central Scrutinizer on March 13, 2012 at 9:40pm: hardcore homeless isn't gonna piss away 2$ for 15 minutes of pointless airtime, second, the device will be sold within 2 hours for cigs, liquor, crack, or sex

Comment by Misteri on March 13, 2012 at 7:56pm: http://bbh-labs.com/homeless-hotspots-a-charitable-experiment-at-sxswi try this link Amaterasu Solar see if it was what you were looking for.

Comment by Amaterasu Solar on March 13, 2012 at 1:08pm: Hmmm. Still not sure what the issue is... I tried the link but it brought up an article about Boeing getting "illegal" subsidies from the US government - according to the WTO. Like, how does the WTO get to have a say in the "illegality" of subsidies??? But that is beside the point of using homeless (somehow) to do...(something). Carry around a mobile wifi hub? Did I get that straight?

Comment by Misteri on March 12, 2012 at 9:07pm: So now our homeless are reduced to animals. Give them a reward for good performance. Wow how unappealing is that. What has to happen in someones life to make this seem like a reasonable reward. Give a man a fish, and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and feed him for a lifetime.

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