Ed 7th and Nicollet

So this was an experiment. Despite being a regular homeless man on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Ed really wasn’t making much money. So we wondered what would happen if we added a little advertising to his approach.

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Ed was a willing participant in our experiment. By treating him like his own small business and putting a little marketing behind his message, we were able to change public perception. People did second takes and looked at him differently. They stopped to chat or laughed about the signs and wanted to know more.  In turn his donations increased substantially.

 

This campaign got a lot of attention and was featured on Boing Boing, the Mount Holly Mayor’s Office and had a life of its own across the web. I was eventually approached by a homeless organization and a local television news channel.

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Earned a Minneapolis Adfed Show award.