There was a unique buzz at the 2012 South by Southwest Technology Conference. It was not related to the latest video game system, nor was it related to the latest smart phone. No, the unique buzz was concerned with having homeless people wear wireless transmitters. Homeless people were hired by a marketing agency, BBH Labs, to walk around the conference with mobile Wi-Fi devices so that the attendees of the conference could receive Internet access. The homeless people were paid $20 a day and allowed to keep any tips given to them. Thirteen homeless people walked around the conference carrying the device, passing out business cards for BBH Labs, and wearing T-shirts advertising BBH. The T-shirts had their names and function, such as “I’m Clarence, a 4G Hotspot.” The homeless people were told to go to the most crowded parts of the conference area so they could advertise BBH Labs “Homeless Hotspots” projects, which the marketing firm classified as a “charitable experiment.” One attendee, Tim Carmody, who is a blogger for Wired magazine, seemed to capture the consensus of the conference attendees. Carmody stated that the whole idea and project was “completely problematic,” and he compared the idea of using human beings as Wi-Fi transmitters as “something out of a darkly satirical science-fiction dystopia.” A spokesperson for BBH Labs, Saneel Radia, director of innovation, claimed that the company was not taking advantage of the homeless people and compared the Wi-Fi project to traditional projects such as homeless people selling newspapers on the street. Radia stated, “We saw it as a means to raise awareness by giving homeless people a way to engage with mainstream society and talk to people . . . The hot spot is a way for them to tell their story.” Although all their homeless participants volunteered for the project and appeared to appreciate the opportunity to make money, the image the project represents to the high technology industry may be difficult to reconcile. As Adam Hanft, CEO of the marketing advisory firm Hanft Projects, states, “There is already a sense that the Internet community has become so absurdly self-involved that they don’t think there’s any world outside of theirs.”

Questions

1. Your boss has presented the idea of using homeless people in a project similar to what BBH Labs has done. What would you tell him? If your boss was determined to move forward with the project, what would you do?

2. BBH Labs compared its project to homeless people selling newspapers on the street. Do you agree with this analogy?

3. Do you agree with the perception that the Internet industry and Silicon Valley are self-absorbed and do not care about anyone other than themselves?

4. Is there any difference between paying a homeless man to work in the United States for $20 a day and paying an 11-year-old girl to work for $2 a day in India? Explain your position.