Helping the Homeless, with Advertising

Some young ad students, who you may remember from this QR code eulogy, wanted to do something to help the over 3,000 homeless people in San Francisco. But, like most students, they were broke. So they decided to employ the knowledge they learned in ad school as a tool to make a difference.

The group came up with creative signs, designed to attract attention and increase the likelihood people would give money, and handed them out to willing homeless men and women around San Francisco. These signs included slogans like “My start-up needs more investors,” “Invested in MySpace. Here I am,” and my favorite, “For every dollar you put, a Justin Bieber fan dies.” While some may question whether these signs make light of the difficulties of homelessness, people aren’t used to seeing humor employed in such a situation, and it may be just the thing to attract the attention of those who would normally ignore more traditional pleas for help. At any rate, it seems that the project was well-intentioned. It’s hard to say whether their efforts made a difference, although they make it seem like the signs helped in the above video. Let us know what you think of the project in the comments section. Credits after the jump.

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QR Codes Proclaimed Dead, Again

I don’t think Edwin Starr had QR Codes in mind when he sang “War,” but a few young ad folk (Yousuke OzawaAlok MahadeviaJeff Oropeza) have used the anti-war theme song to declare war on the maligned pixelated mobile-scanning boxes in a one-minute video titled “Death to QR Codes.”

People have been declaring QR codes dead for quite some time now, and I’m not sure what makes this clip stand out in any way from other eulogies, other than the unintentionally ironic misuse of an anti-Vietnam song. That’s not to say the people behind the project are wrong. For whatever it is worth, a fair amount of data, like this Marketing Charts post, suggest QR code scans are leveling off as mobile advertising spending greatly increases, which is a more apt mathematical eulogy than this video. It’s a video showing people putting cutouts with little graphics of karate kicks and soldiers holding guns next to QR codes. But it’s a Friday afternoon, so if you have a free minute, watch. Or, don’t watch.

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