Toronto ad agency Taxi has marked its 15th anniversary by creating a jacket for the homeless, 3000 of which will be given away in Canada and the United States.
Designed by Lida Baday (apparently Canada's premier women's wear designer), the idea is that you can insulate it with newsprint in the various pockets (under the slogan, 'yesterday's information becomes today's insulation), and it also folds up to be used as a rucksack or pillow.
Much like the One Project / One Child laptop project, there is a chance for the general public to buy an example for themselves, with the difference that there are only 15 available, all autographed by celebrities - Michael Stipe of REM, Sir Michael Caine, Nicholas Negroponte and Jon Stewart of the Daily Show all have jackets that are up for auction on ebay.
I am guessing not everyone is a fan of this project as after I tweeted about it last night I got five Twitter unfollows (maybe coincidence of course, but it's the most I've ever had), from people who perhaps thought that it was a bit like that chapter in 'Who Moved by Blackberry' where the hapless corporate clone, Martin Lukes, gives away all his company's excess promo gear to the homeless to wear.
I have to say, I think it's a great initiative. Yes it promotes Taxi, but so what? 3000 jackets for the homeless, with the added bonus of the money raised via ebay, what's there not to like? Especially as it gets quite cold in Ontario in the Winter - as the 15 below project says, 15 degrees below zero isn't uncommon.
Via Organic's blog Three Minds
Posts
1 comments:
I agree ... Taxi do some great work. And if it keeps 3000 people just a little warmer - that's a good thing.
Post a Comment