CHESSNOID

I read this article PimpThisBum.com employs irony on homeless man’s behalf and was impressed by the creativity of the people who helped this one man out. I was also moved by their generosity in putting the time and effort in making it work.

These are the youtube videos I watched. Some people may think it is a hoax but watching the video and listening to Tim speak, I felt like he was real. I have met a few homeless people and always give them a few bucks or food. They are always appreciative. Here are the videos on Tim:

Houston Homeless part 1

Houston Homeless part 2

There are arguments in the CNN article of the good and bad about the approach these people employed.  Personally, I think it was creative and definitely made a positive difference in at least this one man’s life. I wish them more success and am inspired by their generosity.

CNN:

“We knew that the same campaign with a sincere appeal and a Web site like helpthehomeless.com would be ignored,” he said. “We knew that if we insulted people’s sensitivity or appealed to their humor ­ on a subject as sensitive as this we would get their attention.”

Kevin Dolan, with more than two decades of marketing and sales experience and his son, Sean, a Web-savvy college student with a small video camera and a passion for volunteer work, got the site off the ground with the help of Timothy Dale Edwards. He has been homeless and living under a busy Houston overpass for more than four years.

The Dolans’ offer to Timothy Edwards would be a hard one for any homeless person to refuse: $100 cash per day guaranteed, perhaps even more if the campaign was successful. All Edwards had to do was carry a homemade sign advertising “www.PimpThisBum.com” while he panhandled each day.

For Edwards and his friends it was effortless — they already carried signs reading, “Homeless, Please help” or “Hungry, Need a days work.” Watch Edwards describe “I went through detox” »

And the Dolans promised monetary donations that came into the Web site would go straight to Edwards.