Genius, or exploitation? http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/tech/news/3378201 ------------------------------------------------- Oct. 2, 2005, 12:46AM Web site owner puts beggars, their signs, to work Some say use of panhandlers as ads is 'genius,' others call it exploitation By CLAUDIA ROWE Seattle Post-intelligencer SEATTLE, WASH. - To rush-hour drivers, the beggars standing mute and motionless beside Seattle highway exit ramps may be a persistent nuisance or a sign of deep social ills. But to Ben Rogovy, they were an answer. After scrambling to create an Internet development business and engineer a Web site for poker fans, Rogovy had lots of ideas but little cash with which to advertise them. Then, while staring at a panhandler's cardboard sign, the light bulb clicked on. "So much traffic goes by these sign holders, I thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool if they could advertise themselves and me at the same time?' " he said. A 22-year-old economics major who tore through college in three years, Rogovy packed his knapsack with cash, a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and three professionally printed posters advertising his venture, PokerFaceBook.com. Then he hit the streets. The idea was simple: Pay panhandlers a few dollars to let him attach a glossy, green PokerFaceBook ad to their own signs, and drivers scanning the beggars' rumpled, hand-lettered pleas would inevitably notice his. Thus was born "Bumvertising," a name Rogovy has trademarked, and a concept that has suddenly won him national, even international, attention. "I was a little nervous when I walked up to the first guy," he said. "I was expecting all kinds of questions, but the first thing he asked was, 'Do you have any tape?' He understood exactly what I wanted to do." Now, several times a week, he steps into his four-door Mercedes, dressed in a button-down shirt, and goes hunting, as he puts it, for "good, consistent beggars." Then he makes an offer — a bit of food and water, plus $1 to $5, according to each panhandler's relative value, a determination Rogovy calculates in his head, based largely on traffic patterns. In the past month, he has hired about a dozen vagrant sign-holders. "I am fascinated by these people, out there from dawn to dusk," he said. "It was so much untapped labor. Some of them were working longer days than I was." Advocates for the homeless are appalled. Some have called Rogovy a "poverty pimp." Others say Bumvertising is craven exploitation. Doug McKeehen, 46, who spent two years living on the streets, is appalled by the younger man's entrepreneurial zeal. The day McKeehen was reduced to begging for change by standing on a road holding a sign was among the worst in his life, he said. It left him utterly demeaned. "Of course a person who's got a low self-esteem is going to take this guy's money," he said. "But I find what he's doing extremely offensive — I wonder if it's even legal." It is. Elaine Fischer, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor and Industries, called Rogovy's venture "interesting," but said it did not appear to violate work rules, mostly because the vagrants aren't technically working. "Our sense is that these people are doing what they were doing anyway so the way we see it, there's no clear employer-employee relationship," she said. Good news, perhaps, to the would-be entrepreneurs who have contacted Rogovy from around the country, asking if they may co-opt his idea. A radio station in Flint, Mich., plans to advertise itself using the homeless there, he said, and a man from Las Vegas is thinking about doing the same to publicize his Web site. "I think it would be great if this went mainstream," Rogovy said. "Think of all the commerce it would create that wasn't there before."
Genius! Radio stations (not mine) have been giving away T-shirts to hobos for years. Bumvertisement!!! What a great word.
This is marketing genius. Not only is he helping his company grow, he is also helping those who need the most. Win-Win.
I saw this guy interviewed on the Daily Show. They really gave it to him good. They asked him if he thought the term "bumvertising" was offensive given it called his 'employees' bums. His response was: "Well, the definition of a bum is an unkempt, shiftless person, who asks others for money. So, if you take that first part out, I'd say it fits them very well." The interviewers response was: "The dicitionary defines as not bound by ethical standards or a sense of decency. So if you take out the "not" it'd be a pretty flattering description huh?" Overall it got a pretty good laugh from the audience. The guy had to know he was being skewered, but didn't care because it probably got him massive amounts of traffic on his site. Oh well...
i think its both genius and exploitation. this is america...free market economy. if the bums feel exploited than they dont have to be a bumboard.
So what this guy McKeehan is saying is it's more honorable to just stand there, do nothing and get money, as opposed to doing something. This guy must be an idiot, which explains why he was homeless in the first place.
I would certainly hope so with a $205,938,439 payroll. I find it interesting that the Yankees haven't won a World Series since moving past the $100 million mark in payroll.
saw the 'daily show' spot on this a couple of weeks ago. but really i find nothing wrong with it unless you got a problem with the circumvension of the 'minimum wage' laws.
