# Pizza company hires homeless to hold ads **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2003, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419 "2003-06-17T09:58:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419/1 "2003-06-17T09:58:42Z")
[From CNN:](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/06/17/offbeat.pizza.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) – Instead of going Dumpster-diving for maybe a half-eaten sandwich and some cold fries, Peter Schoeff, a 20-year-old homeless man, was served a slice of hot pizza dripping with cheese. > > All he had to do was hold a sign for about 40 minutes that read: “Pizza Schmizza paid me to hold this sign instead of asking for money.” …Well, any form of advertising is good…unless this backfires on them and they become known as “homeless pizza”…At least we know that there are some people who really **will** work “for food”…How long do you suppose before this gets corrupted in some way? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419/2 "2003-06-17T10:13:52Z")
Interesting concept, and if it works, it works… although seeing a guy in a giant blue mohawk might not make me want to buy the pizza, unless he’s dressed in a funny costume, like Mr. Mohawk Dude, or something. It does seem a little unfair, though. A lot of businesses do this now - hire someone to hold up a sign - and my guess is that they’re not paying the people with one slice of pizza. _Those_ people more likely get minimum wage. So why not the homeless guy? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419/3 "2003-06-17T12:09:58Z")
This concept was common in PA a year or two ago. Whenever a company was having a sale, you would see homeless people with signs all over. (Actually, I confess that I don’t know for sure that the people where homeless, but from their style of dress they did not appear to have access to a washing machine…) ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419/4 "2003-06-17T12:44:34Z")
Is this not illegal? Does it not break minimum wage legislation? ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419/5 "2003-06-17T13:06:22Z")
Oh God… Pizza Schmizza!! Oh, oh, oh!! I miss Pizza Schmizza. _wimper_ MeanJoe ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419/6 "2003-06-17T13:13:17Z")
IANAL, but I suspect that people are not eligible to collect wages unless they have an address. ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419/7 "2003-06-17T16:55:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*It does seem a little unfair, though. A lot of businesses do this now - hire someone to hold up a sign - and my guess is that they’re not paying the people with one slice of pizza. _Those_ people more likely get minimum wage. So why not the homeless guy? \*\* They weren’t only paid with a slice of pizza. According to the artcile, “They are paid in pizza, soda and a few dollars.” And the homeless man didn’t think it was a bad deal. “I think it’s a fair trade,” Schoeff said. “We’re career panhandlers, that’s the only other way we can get money.” ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419/8 "2003-06-17T16:57:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by refusal \* > \*\*Is this not illegal? Does it not break minimum wage legislation? \*\* Depending on where you are in the US, 40 minutes of minimum wage works out to about a slice of pizza, or less. Not sure if that says more about the minimum wage or the cost of pizza! ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419/9 "2003-06-17T17:01:10Z")
Well, of course he thinks it’s a good deal. He was getting no money before, let alone pizza. Now he’s getting money. Ergo, good deal. But they’re clearly taking advantage of the homeless. They’re not good enough to make minimum wage? > [@](#): > > Gary Ruskin, director of Portland-based Commercial Alert, an advertising watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, said homeless people acting as billboards should be paid minimum wage, or else they are being exploited. And he complained that the practice adds to ad clutter. ---
**Author:** ![SnugTheJoiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnugTheJoiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnugTheJoiner)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-company-hires-homeless-to-hold-ads/182419/10 "2003-06-18T01:40:05Z")
I don’t have any problem with the pizza joint offering some food and a little money in exchange for the homeless guy holding the advertising sign. I do have a problem with the sign itself. Why can’t it just say EAT AT PIZZA SHMIZZA? Instead, it tells the observer that the sign-holder is a panhandler and therefore probably homeless. Smug, self-satified, and just mean-spiriited if you ask me. And sad, too, because the pizza place is probably feeling all noble about it.