Don’t even think of turning New York City’s homeless into WiFi hotspots, the city’s public advocate warned Tuesday.
Our Alison Gendar reports:
Bill de Blasio sent off a blunt letter to the Chairman of
, warning the ad agency not to bring
its controversial Austin, Texas, antics
here.
“With its “Homeless Hotspot” campaign, BBH has crossed a line from cynicism to exploitation,” de Blasio said in his letter to Chair Emma Cookson.
“The campaign’s use of vulnerable people as WiFi hotspots in Austin, Texas has set off a justifiable national controversy,” de Blasio wrote.
“I strongly caution you against expanding the “Homeless Hotspot” program to New York City without first sitting down with advocates for the homeless to ensure the fair and dignified treatment of any New Yorker involved in BBH’s marketing,” he wrote.
Homeless people were turned into walking wifi aerials as part of an “experiment” by Bartle, Bogle and Hegarty (BBH) .
The ad agency handed out wireless gadgets for its Homeless Hotspots project at the South by Southwest arts and tech festival in Austin.
BBH said it wanted to offer the homeless a way to make money. The homeless were told to stand in certain areas and let customers come to them. Anyone who used the service was encougaed to pay their homeless wireless provider $2 for 15 minutes.