# Uncompassionate Poverty Experiments The Pilion Trust Tests Concern for Poverty in London By Laura McQuarrie | Published 2014-04-09 | Marketing Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/poverty-in-london References: [designtaxi](http://designtaxi.com/news/364943/Controversial-Charity-Campaign-Urges-People-To-) & [piliontrust](http://piliontrust.com/2014/04/07/) The Pilion Trust charity set up an interesting [social experiments](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/simply-coffee-caf), trying get a sense of just how much people care about poverty in London. With the help of the [Publicis](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/love-has-no-labels1) agency, two versions of the experiment were conducted, sending a man out onto the streets wearing a sandwich board with a very different message each time. For the first round, the man’s signs read “f*ck the poor” and people were quite vocal and showed a lot of care about how wrong this approach seemed to be. During round two, the man dons a sign that says “[help the poor](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/public-support)” and he is completely ignored. The campaign proves that people do care about the poor, but the message drastically changes how much more likely a person is to get involved in making a change towards ending poverty. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 3.9/10 - Popularity: 32% | Activity: 78% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial - Top markets: Europe ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Marketing](https://www.trendhunter.com/marketing) > [Publicity Stunts](https://www.trendhunter.com/publicitystunts) ## Key Themes ### Why This Trend Is Growing - **Compassionate Poverty Messaging:** Businesses can explore using positive messaging in poverty campaigns to increase engagement and inspire action. - **Social Experiments for Social Causes:** Organizations can conduct creative social experiments to draw attention to social issues and inspire positive change. - **Public Perception Impact on Social Change:** Businesses can examine how public perception of social issues influences engagement and use it to shape future campaigns. ### Industries Being Reshaped - **Non-profit:** Non-profit organizations can benefit from conducting creative social experiments to draw attention to issues and inspire action. - **Marketing:** Marketing agencies and firms can assist non-profit organizations in designing innovative social experiments to better communicate important social issues. - **Advocacy:** Advocacy groups can use the results of this experiment to create more effective messaging that will inspire public support for ending poverty. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Do-Good Pizza Taste Tests](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/good-tastes-better-social-experiment.md) - [Awareness-Raising Poverty Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/unaccept-inequality.md) - [Pop-Up Reverse Supermarkets](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/reverse-supermarket.md) - [Awareness-Raising Shoe Store Concepts](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/soles4souls-canada.md) - [Emerging London Designer Exhibitions](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/powershift-exhibition.md) - [Domestic Awareness Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/this-is-not-a-home.md) - [Social Good Pastry Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/action-against-hunger-and-walls-pastry.md) - [Children-Supporting Trust Initiatives](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/children-who-trust-again.md) - [Homelessness Metaverse Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/metaverse-campaign.md)