The perfect advertising medium - homeless peoples coats.

Ben & Jerry's have together with a bunch of nuns thought up an idea that clothes the Dutch homeless in warmer winter gear, while advertising ice-cream.

If that isn't enough of a paradox for you, consider this - we ignore ads, we ignore homeless. A match made in heaven is to advertise on the backs of homeless! ;)

Actually it seems to be the brainchild of the nuns who run a charity in the Amsterdam city centre, they have offered to put stickers on the backs of homeless peoples coats as thanks for Ben & Jerry's donation to their cause.
Read more at the Guardian: Ice cream helps keep homeless warm

In return for financial help for the centre, the nuns have offered to have Ben & Jerry's logos stuck on the backs of new warm jackets for homeless people. A pilot project began last week, with 50 homeless volunteers wearing the jackets.
The nuns' centre provides help for homeless people, alcoholics, drug addicts and prostitutes.
It is a risky venture for the Vermont-based ice cream company, which offers 50 varieties of ice cream, frozen yoghurt and other products. It may win it points as caring capitalists, or it could come to be seen as further demeaning an already vulnerable group in society.
Erwin van der Laan, a spokesman for the media company behind the project, Bizon Media Group, denied that it was demeaning for the participants to wear the advertisements.
He told the Associated Press news agency: "You have to see this as something that they're doing to repay the nuns, something that they're proud of."
He said other companies were also interested in funding similar advertisements.

Client: Ben&Jerry
Media: Sisters Augustinessen & Homeless people

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Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
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AnonymousCoward's picture

Interesting, actually. Perhaps with delicious ice-cream flavours on their backs, they'll start getting the attention they require. I can even see a public service campaign of the homeless with provocative visuals on their backs (nude women, guns, bombs, etc.) and a line like, "Is this what it takes for you to notice me?"

AnonymousCoward's picture

Cool!

I want to see pictures of that, I wounder why The Guardian did

Dabitch's picture

Thats not a bad idea for a campaign (for the homeless) actually.