Taxi Develops Jacket for the Homeless
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.19.07
Many companies are eliminating the usual gift baskets or cards, and doing something for charity instead. The creative types and marketing firms are trying to outdo each other with ideas that both do good and demonstrate how clever they are. (See Ito's goats) While we don't know what level of charity Maimonides would peg this at (they didn't have the internet to publicize their generosity in the 12th century) it is a phenomenon that spreads a lot more cheer a lot wider than a card might. TAXI, a very clever Toronto ad firm has developed a jacket for Canada's cold homeless, of which there are far too many. They are making and distributing 3,000 of them.
David Topping writes in Torontoist : TAXI's executive creative director Steve Mykolyn and designer Lida Baday (pictured), the waterproof, windproof, and plentily-pocketed coat serves as a lightweight jacket during not-too-cold weather, can fold into a backpack during decent weather, and––when you fill the pockets up with newspaper––converts into a super-warm jacket that was tested (in a meat locker, no less!) to be effective up to -29° celsius.
Named 15 Below for the temperature at which the government issues a cold weather alert, and for TAXI's own fifteen-year anniversary, the company's good deed is accordingly a mixture of overt philanthropy and subtle promotion. Paul Lavoie, TAXI's cofounder, chairman, and chief creative officer (phew) encapsulated that attitude perfectly, stating in the company's press release that "[TAXI's] approach to solving problems––of any sort––has always been to question convention"
It has its own website at ::TAXI
This story almost makes me sorry I left advertising in NYC for urban planning.
Almost.
Kudos to Taxi,
May your ideas be bright,
Your clients bold,
and your new business team well rested.
I'm only guessing on that last part!
All the best.
looks an awful lot like the "emergency long jacket" by the japanese conceptual brand "final home"
http://le-bouclard.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_30&products_id=166
right down to the concept of stuffing it with newspapers for warmth
I was out of college about a week and working in TV news in Portland when a real cold snap hit.
Homeless advocacy groups were concerned, so they gave out over 100 sleeping bags the day before the storm was due to hit.
By the end of business that day, 97 of the sleeping bags were found in pawn shops.
These jackets look real nice and expensive ... bet you could pawn them for a lot.
It's hardly philanthropy if you're benefiting from it. I'm glad the homeless will be warmer, but would the company have done it without exploiting them for advertising space too? "Here. And since you're lying on that grate anyway, just let me paint a sign on your *ss."
Who cares if they are also some way benefitting from it? They've done a good thing that serves a dual purpose; business for them and saving lives for others. Welcome to the real world. Why is that a bad thing? I don't see it as exploitation. It's possible to help others and help yourself (or company) at the same time.
If you're talking about the 15 Below logo...
Doesn't everyone who makes a jacket put a tag on it?
North Face, Columbia, Arcteryx etc...Now Here This:
If you hand out free jackets to cold homeless people you will NOT be criticized for having your logo on the jacket!"
I mean, its not like they are selling ad space for their clients on the jackets, but why the hell shouldn't they if they can keep more people warm that way? I'm pretty sure that no client in their right mind would want to do this, but they said the same thing about putting a dog in a fast food commercial, and that turned out OK.
They'll make a nice body bag for the homeless. We should celebrate this generosity with a champagne brunch.