28 May 2002—Last Tuesday, a Denver-based
advertising agency sent out a press release
congratulating itself on its commitment to the homeless and touting
its virility as a force of advertising. The story was picked up in the
local paper as well as the Associated Press, which noted
that one out of five homeless people rejected the signs and that the
president of a local homeless advocacy coalition called the stunt wrongheaded.
Admittedly, the AP article was sort of poorly written and got the name
of the ad agency’s CEO wrong, but the stunt pissed me off enough
to make me write a letter to the ad agency, Sumaato Advertising. It
went exactly like this:
Date: 22 May 2002, 3:10pm
To: (link on home page to PR firm for Sumaato)
Subject: Sumaato panhandling signs
I don't know where to begin on this,
but I'll say this, at least: I don't like a lot of the things
ad agencies do, but few make me as angry as this stunt did.
You are taking advantage of a national
crisis to promote your advertising firm. Want some good karma?
Why don't you hire one of the people you gave a sign to? You can
help that person get financial stability and reduce homelessness
by at least one person -- permanently. Flaunt that on your home
page, rather than this sorry excuse for civic duty.
According to AP, you didn't even pay
the people you gave signs to. I'd call it free advertising for
you, but it wasn't: you probably paid a good amount of money to
have the signs produced. At the very least, you should have just
taken that money and given it to the homeless people you're purporting
to help.
This is not "The Threepenny Opera."
Panhandling should not be a going concern. It's a symptom of a
horrible societal flaw.
I hope I'm not the only one sending
you an email like this. I hope also that this reaches a real person.
Cheshire Dave Beckerman
A reply, likely a form letter, arrived ten
minutes later. Note the contradictions to the AP story (I added italics
for emphasis):
From: Dennis Wakabayashi <dmw@sumaato.com>
Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 15:20:22 -0600
To: Cheshire <cheshire@cheshiredave.com>, lauri@lh3.com,
findout@sumaato.com
Subject: Re: Sumaato panhandling signs
This certainly isn't the response we were
hoping for. I'm sorry that you feel this way. I'd like you to
understand that we're located right next door to two homeless
shelters. They are in support of this effort. We're drawing national
attention to the homeless though this situation.
We're not using interviews or media to promote
ourselves, we're attempting to react to this with concern and
evidence that we're not a typical ad agency. I'm not ashamed at
all to have given the homeless this limelight while trying to
feed my own family and the families of this agency.
The fact of the matter is that we're having
a rough go of it and we're right here with the homeless. The idea
sprang from that.
Every sign included information on local
shelters, local places for the homeless to get food, clothing
and support. Even employment.
No one we gave the signs to felt exploited,
and the homeless advocates locally have been in contact with us
in support. [Italics inserted by Chesh]
We're good guys not rapists.
And we certainly wouldn't want you to think
that of us.
I'm sorry to have come across that way to
you.
(unsigned)
My reply to that letter, 3:30pm:
Hi, Dennis --
Thanks for your quick response.
I realized after I sent my first message
that one of the biggest problems for me is that you and your agency
are looking for congratulations and increased business for what
you're doing. You are essentially branding panhandlers, and in
a large sense, I think what you're doing is more for you than
for the panhandlers. Had you simply made the signs without any
reference to your business, it would have been far less egregious
to me. Then, if good karma was aiming to come back around to you,
it would have found you. I still don't like the idea, but if you
have the blessing of your local agencies and shelters, that's
up to you and them. I hope I'm wrong and that something lasting
and good comes out of your work. From here, though, it just tastes
bad.
