Hobo Jacket: Helping or Objectifying the Homeless?

[Komori]

Or both?

hobojacket.tk/index.html

Hobo Jacket, started by an MIT student, is a fundraising website where you donate money to give jackets/sweaters to the homeless... bearing your rival school's logo.

From their site:

HoboJacket is meant to be an edgy way to incentivize more people to donate. Made with love by college students procrastinating on their homework, we hope you find our service tastefully offensive, laugh, and help out the unfortunate. As a not-for-profit site, we will make sure all donations go towards warming the homeless.

They've even got leader boards of the schools that have the most money donated.


So, what do you think? It's obviously incentivised people to donate money who might not have otherwise, but you could also argue it's using the homeless as a tool to make a dig at a rival school. This isn't the only time there's been an issue about helping versus objectifying the homeless (See "Homeless Hotspots at SXSW"), but this one is the most recent and most ripe for discussion. Would you donate? If you were homeless, would you be offended? Would you wear the jacket?

[PFA]

It took me a moment to get it. That's, uh... wow. XD;

Personally, I've never really cared one way or the other about school rivalries, so I couldn't care less whose school jacket was being donated. Likewise, if I were homeless and really needed a jacket, I probably couldn't care less where it came from. But at the same time, um... I'd be more inclined to donate/wear something in a little better taste.

[Killix]

I'd rather donate something more tasteful to the homeless. XD
Yeesh, kick 'em when they're down or what?

[Breakingchains]

It makes me angry, but I guess ultimately, it's jackets getting out there that wouldn't otherwise get out there. There's going to be a special kind of awful person who donates solely because they think insulting their rival school like this is hi-larious, but at least you're getting something good out of that person, whether they personally give a crap or not.

I think if I were homeless, I would take the jacket. I doubt I'd have the luxury of considering where it came from, the logo on it, or the sentiment behind it.

[Gelquie]

Looks like the site was taken down and replaced with an apology.

---

As for the topic itself, I rolled my eyes when I saw it; I've never been much for school rivalries, and I was wondering about the homeless objectifying thing. But were I homeless, I'd just take it and enjoy the warm clothing. Resources are limited.

[Komori]

Ooh, I guess the negative backlash was stronger than the founder expected. I wonder if he's now going to give the money back that he's already made? Or if he's still going to donate it to clothe the homeless? (School jacket or unmarked one?)

Yeah, my school didn't have much of a rivalry either, being an art school and all. XD But I think school rivalries exist muuuuch stronger with state schools, especially if they have a football team. (Like, Virginia Tech and University of Virginia are so rivaled that my family members have taken sides, even if they didn't go to either school. XD)

[Crystal]

l rolled my eyes as well. It was in bad taste, although Lord knows, if it hadn't been, it would actually have been a great idea. School rivalries are intense. XD