The Homeless As Ad Space

by Josie Raymond · 2010-01-10 13:26:00 UTC
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Is paying a homeless man $100 to hold a movie poster a way to provide him with an honest day's work or a way to exploit him as little more than ad space?

According to entertainment journalist Nikki Finke, movie producer David Permut paid a veteran named Ronald to hold a poster for Youth in Revolt, a movie released last Friday that Permut produced. Permut apparently often sees Ronald at the busy corner of San Vicente Blvd. and Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles and saw an opportunity for cheap promotion.

Permut reportedly said, "It's been very good for us and for him. So I started thinking: why don't the movie studios go to all the homeless people and pay them to hold up [posters]?" I think that's a joke. Finke called Permut a "marketing genius," a remark she now says was a joke. With all these jokes flying around, shouldn't I be laughing?

The commenters are split between calling this dignity and degradation. What's your take?

Photo credit: Deadline Hollywood

Josie Raymond is a Change.org editor who has reported from the streets of the South Bronx, written for several magazines that folded (not her fault) and fixed thousands of typos.
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