On Marketing
Have you ever noticed the homeless signage in NYC?

They run in cycles.
A few weeks ago it was “I just need $x to get a train ticket home.”
Now it’s “No stories, just a little help”
Once I notice one, I turn the corner and see the exact same sign (or, same words, at least) three more times: “No stories, just a little help”
It reminds me of ad campaigns, and how if one company has success with a particular strategy you suddenly see other companies trying to cash in too.
Or even memes, and how one person does something original, it goes viral, and suddenly all the internet creators do that thing too in order to stay relevant.
It worries me that, after a whole lifetime of seeing heartbreaking life stories spelled out on these cardboard signs, the current strategy that is successful enough to be catching on is “no story”.
Maybe it’s because people have stopped believing them. Maybe they assume New Yorkers don’t have the time or the attention span to imagine the complex series of circumstances that lead that person to homelessness.
Maybe it’s because when we give it’s not because of others, it’s to make ourselves feel better.
Or, maybe, and most frighteningly for me, maybe we’re moving into a post-story society.
I hope not.
