British marketing agency, BBH Labs, is experiencing serious backlash for their attempt to use the homeless residents of Austin, Texas at South by Southwest Interactive as wireless transmitters or "Homeless Hotspots."
BBH Labs, part of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, teamed with Front Steps Shelter for this "charitable experiment" to equip 13 homeless volunteers with Mi-Fi or mobile Wi-Fi devices to offer Internet access to SXSWi attendees in exchange for donations.
Each volunteer was given shirts to wear as they stroll the conference. The shirts worked as their business cards. Across their chest the text read: "I'M [FIRST NAME], A 4G HOTSPOT. SMS HH [FIRST NAME] TO 25827 FOR ACCESS www.homelesshotspots.org"
Volunteers were paid $20 a day and all donations were kept by the "MiFi manager."
Prior to the launch of their beta test for "Homeless Hotspots," BBH Labs explained on their blog that this idea was an evolution of the current street newspapers model empowering the homeless to not only bring awareness to their community but help support themselves.
Unfortunately that depthless defense for an apparent marketing ploy isn't enough to satisfy the brooding criticism that BBH Labs is currently getting bombarded with.
Wired really put it best: "This is my worry: the homeless turned not just into walking, talking hotspots, but walking, talking billboards for a program that doesn't care anything at all about them or their future, so long as it can score a point or two about digital disruption of old media paradigms."
It is disheartening to see a large successful firm swoop into a world that they know nothing about to make claims about causes they obviously have no genuine concern for while wearing a self righteous cloak of charity and good. And as a professional in this industry this whole "experiment" was insulting.
BBH Labs has attempted to retaliate and stand by their "charitable innovation experiment" with an update on their blog.
Saneel Radia who oversaw this project attempted to give the media an explanation, "We saw it as a means to raise awareness by giving homeless people a way to engage with mainstream society and talk to people," he said. "The hot spot is a way for them to tell their story."
Sorry Radia and sorry BBH Labs, but this goes beyond not being the brightest idea to being the worst.