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Pizza company hires homeless to hold ads

post #1 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:08pm
Thread Starter 
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/06/16/national1254EDT0572.DTL" target="_blank">Instead of going Dumpster-diving for maybe a half-eaten sandwich and some cold fries, Peter Schoeff, a 20-year-old homeless man, was served a slice of hot pizza dripping with cheese.

All he had to do was hold a sign for about 40 minutes that read: "Pizza Schmizza paid me to hold this sign instead of asking for money."
</a>

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post #2 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:12pm
I cannot imagine a world where this might ever be construed as a bad thing.

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post #3 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
From Dusk Til Kronos:
I cannot imagine a world where this might ever be construed as a bad thing.

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tock!

Quote:
Gary Ruskin, director of Portland-based Commercial Alert, an advertising watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, said homeless people acting as billboards should be paid minimum wage, or else they are being exploited. And he complained that the practice adds to ad clutter.

"People don't want to get hammered with an ad every time they turn their head," he said. "Most advertising is either somewhat of a lie or deceptive, and it's an assault on our attention."
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post #4 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:14pm
Quote:
From Dusk Til Kronos:
I cannot imagine a world where this might ever be construed as a bad thing.

tick.tick.tick.tick.tick...
It's called Earth. You should visit.
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post #5 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:17pm
Oh...that place.
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post #6 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:18pm
If they are payed a few dollars (let's say four) plus food for forty minutes of work, isn't that basically minimum wage? I mean heck when I worked for Dairy Queen that was more than I would get for that same amount of time.
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post #7 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Scott Roche:
If they are payed a few dollars (let's say four) plus food for forty minutes of work, isn't that basically minimum wage? I mean heck when I worked for Dairy Queen that was more than I would get for that same amount of time.
you forgot benefits and a 401k.
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post #8 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:22pm
Plus food doesn't add to minimum wage. A slice of pizza costs about a dollar to make (this is a high estimation, most chains are going to be lower). If we really wanted to help the homeless get jobs, exploiting their situation for pizza advertising isn't really the route to go.
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post #9 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:25pm
How is making six or seven dollars a nhour not making minimum wage? That's based on three or four bucks (a few dollars) for forty minutes. That's no more exploitation than paying some high school kid 3.35/hour (minimum wage in my day) to pull ice cream cones.
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post #10 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:30pm
So you're saying it's fair to compensate people with food? That there is somewhere a ratio where food should count towards minimum wage?

Maybe we can start paying immigrant bus boys in leftovers.

Maybe if we give the homeless cans of soup, we can use them as cushions on park benches.
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post #11 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:33pm
And you cannot compare a high school kid, living with his parents and a homeless person.

Of course, you were getting exploited by Dairy Queen but big busniess exploitation is another thread.
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post #12 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:42pm
I can see where both sides are coming from but at the end of the hour that homless guy had a full stomach and some money in his pocket. I'm going under the assumption (possibly wrong) that the cash he got would cover minimum wage and the food would be an extra. This isn't a solution but it is hard to say it's a bad thing.
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post #13 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:44pm
So what part of a homeless guy getting a lunch plus some cash for standing around (something he was doing anyway) is a bad thing? Do you mean that this Pizza Place should have paid them more? (How much is this skill worth?) Should they ignore them? The place sure as heck can't solve the homeless problem. Would it have been better to pay teenagers to do this or would that have been exploitative to?

P.S. I dropped the idea of food as compensation. Let's call it a fringe benefit. Some restaurants I worked at did feed their employees for free.
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post #14 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:46pm
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Guttenberg Fan Club:
<strong>And you cannot compare a high school kid, living with his parents and a homeless person.</strong>

In this instance you can. In my mind it would be perfectly acceptable to pay both people minimum wage for what is VERY unskilled labor.

<strong>Of course, you were getting exploited by Dairy Queen but big busniess exploitation is another thread.</strong>

BS.
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post #15 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:47pm
It isn't just the homeless and the pizza company that are involved. This is basically trivializing homelessness. They're asking the homeless to making fun of themselves, who in exchange get full of pizza and soda. People who walk by can now laugh at the funny homeless person as opposed to having to face the reality of the situation.
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post #16 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:50pm
Scott, you are now talking about something completely different. They AREN'T paying them minimum wage. All they mention in the article is 'a few dollars'. That could be a dollar and change.

If you want to give a homeless person a job (one not reliant on making fun of themselves), it would be a great thing. That's not what is happening here.
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post #17 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:51pm
Anyone who laughs at the homeless has got deeper issues that have little to do with paying the homeless to advertise. The way I figure it, this guy could have spent more of his advertising dollar to get him less coverage than this has. And in the end the homelss indiviuals benefitted more than if he had done something else.
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post #18 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:51pm
Quote:
Guttenberg Fan Club:
People who walk by can now laugh at the funny homeless person as opposed to having to face the reality of the situation.
Maybe, maybe not but I would be willing to bet the guy is more concerned about his next meal/money/shelter than getting laughed at by some asshole walking by.
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post #19 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:53pm
[quote]Scott Roche:
Quote:
Originally posted by Guttenberg Fan Club:
<strong>And you cannot compare a high school kid, living with his parents and a homeless person.</strong>

In this instance you can. In my mind it would be perfectly acceptable to pay both people minimum wage for what is VERY unskilled labor.

<strong>Of course, you were getting exploited by Dairy Queen but big busniess exploitation is another thread.</strong>

BS.
What is BS?

You don't think Dairy Queen exploits teen workers?
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post #20 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:56pm
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Guttenberg Fan Club:
<strong>Scott, you are now talking about something completely different. They AREN'T paying them minimum wage. All they mention in the article is 'a few dollars'. That could be a dollar and change.</strong>

We are both making assumptions, but I'd say that "a few dollars" is more likely at least three. $1.50 is not a few dollars.

<strong>If you want to give a homeless person a job (one not reliant on making fun of themselves), it would be a great thing. That's not what is happening here.</strong>

So give a homeless person a job. I can't. This pizza store owner can't. But he can give them "a few dollars" and a free lunch to carry a sign. Was the sign in poor taste? I don't think so. It sounds like a statement of fact. "Pizza Schmizza paid me to hold this sign instead of asking for money." And again how is it bad for PS to do this?
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post #21 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:57pm
Quote:
otisthecat:
Quote:
Guttenberg Fan Club:
People who walk by can now laugh at the funny homeless person as opposed to having to face the reality of the situation.
Maybe, maybe not but I would be willing to bet the guy is more concerned about his next meal/money/shelter than getting laughed at by some asshole walking by.
It's not about the guy. It's about a business making fun of the homeless for advertising.

I think that is sick.
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post #22 of 34
6/16/03 at 6:59pm
Quote:
Guttenberg Fan Club:
What is BS?

You don't think Dairy Queen exploits teen workers?
Exploit -
1 : to make productive use of : UTILIZE

In this sense yes.

2 : to make use of meanly or unjustly for one's own advantage

In this sense no.
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post #23 of 34
6/16/03 at 7:01pm
Quote:
Guttenberg Fan Club:
It's not about the guy. It's about a business making fun of the homeless for advertising.

I think that is sick.
How is this making fun of the homeless? I'd argue it is about the homeless guy. If they are OK with it why shouldn't you be?
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post #24 of 34
6/16/03 at 7:03pm
Quote:
Scott Roche:
I can't. This pizza store owner can't. But he can give them "a few dollars" and a free lunch to carry a sign. Was the sign in poor taste? I don't think so. It sounds like a statement of fact. "Pizza Schmizza paid me to hold this sign instead of asking for money." And again how is it bad for PS to do this?
The pizza store owner can't give them a job????? How the fuck can he not give them a job? HE OWNS THE FUCKING STORE. Teach them how to wash dishes, clean the store, anything! But no, instead he's going to fill them with cheese and soda in exchange for their dignity. Awesome!

If you don't think the sign was in bad taste, well, then you have bad taste.
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post #25 of 34
6/16/03 at 7:03pm
[quote]Guttenberg Fan Club:
Quote:
It's not about the guy. It's about a business making fun of the homeless for advertising.

I think that is sick.
If that is what is happening than I would agree with you. With the limited information though I think I just interpreted it different than you did. Maybe with more specifics we might come to a better (or at least mroe accurate) conclusion.
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post #26 of 34
6/16/03 at 7:07pm
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Guttenberg Fan Club:
<strong>The pizza store owner can't give them a job????? How the fuck can he not give them a job? HE OWNS THE FUCKING STORE. Teach them how to wash dishes, clean the store, anything! But no, instead he's going to fill them with cheese and soda in exchange for their dignity. Awesome!</strong>

Calm down there Starbuck. So I guess he fires all of the people he has working inside the store? Then what do those people do? Or were you saying that he should hire them in addition to his current employees? Then he'd have to charge thirty bucks for a pizza adn then HE'D be homeless. And unless I miss my guess people who are begging for money check their dignity at the curb.

<strong>If you don't think the sign was in bad taste, well, then you have bad taste.</strong>

That could be. I do enjoy Will Smith movies.
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post #27 of 34
6/16/03 at 7:08pm
Quote:
Scott Roche:
Quote:
Guttenberg Fan Club:
What is BS?

You don't think Dairy Queen exploits teen workers?
Exploit -
1 : to make productive use of : UTILIZE

In this sense yes.

2 : to make use of meanly or unjustly for one's own advantage

In this sense no.
Holy christ, Scott. Of course they are exploiting teens. Have you ever wondered why teens work at these places? Because Dairy Queen can pay them almost nothing. They EXPLOIT teens' lack of experience to have them do shit work for shit pay.

It's what businesses do. They don't pay what people deserve, they pay as low as they possibly can get away with. Legal/not-legal has nothing to do with it. It IS exploitation.
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post #28 of 34
6/16/03 at 7:13pm
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Guttenberg Fan Club:
<strong>Holy christ, Scott. Of course they are exploiting teens. Have you ever wondered why teens work at these places? Because Dairy Queen can pay them almost nothing. They EXPLOIT teens' lack of experience to have them do shit work for shit pay.</strong>

So what kind of sense would it make for DQ or any fast food joint to pay eight bucks an hour to anyone for highly unskilled, trained monkey level work? They exploit as in utilize sure. Where are these jobs for unskilled laborers that pay big bucks going to come from?

<strong>It's what businesses do. They don't pay what people deserve, they pay as low as they possibly can get away with. Legal/not-legal has nothing to do with it. It IS exploitation.</strong>

Why does someone who pulls sodas 8 hours a day "deserve" more than minimum?
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post #29 of 34
6/16/03 at 7:55pm
Quote:
Scott Roche:
If they are payed a few dollars (let's say four) plus food for forty minutes of work, isn't that basically minimum wage? I mean heck when I worked for Dairy Queen that was more than I would get for that same amount of time.
I know what San Francisco's homeless would call that.

A pay cut.

I'm not joking.
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post #30 of 34
6/16/03 at 8:04pm
It's weird that hating the poor makes you guys feel so good.
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post #31 of 34
6/16/03 at 8:12pm
You'll need to explain that one to me Dev.
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post #32 of 34
6/17/03 at 9:54am
As someone who worked with the homeless for five years, I don't see this as such a big issue. A homeless person needs to eat at least once a day to stay healthy, and if this kind of thing prevents the usual sitting at an off-ramp with a sign begging for help, what's the harm? There will never be a corporate decision made by the fast-food chains to use homeless people as living advertisements. It's always going to come down to what a few local restaurant managers are willing to do.
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post #33 of 34
6/17/03 at 2:59pm
Quote:
Devin is the Faux Elite:
It's weird that hating the poor makes you guys feel so good.
What the hell are you talking about?
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post #34 of 34
6/17/03 at 4:18pm
Quote:
NOWHEREMan:
sucks to this guy. i got a guy in a crappy Spider-man halloween costume standing in front of the local Little Caesar's waving a sign telling drivers by of the manager's special.
you know, I was thinking about this. What is different about having a homeless man hold a sign in exchange for money and food and having a man where a giant PIG costume and stand on the corner handing out coupons for a barbeque restaurant. Hell, I used to wear a TACO costume in front of Taco Bell back in 1988 for $3.60 an hour. And I got no free food.

Here in my home town, the local newspaper gives a mentally handicapped kid a bunch of newspapers and he goes along and sells them in bars and restaurants for 25 cents each. They don't pay him anything, he gets the money from the papers he sells. So, are they exploiting the mentally handicapped to get their papers read? If you think so, you have a problem.

I don't hate the homeless, and if this is a way to get a person money and a meal, good for them.
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