# Silliest publicity stunt ever?



## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Evergreen, a charity that apparently tries to make cities more livable, paid some kid $1,000 / week to live/drive around in a car 24-7 in Toronto.

When I first saw the headline, I thought he had thought up the (dumb) idea, but when I read it was sponsored - I was pretty surprised.

Seems like they were taking advantage of a young/poor person to get him to do something which probably isn't that healthy.

Couldn't they have spent the money hiring a publicist or sponsoring an event which has more positive connotations?

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/art...ki-spent-a-month-in-a-car-and-it-was-terrible


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

It was to highlight how much time people in the GTA actually spend commuting in a year. The whole point is that it wasn't healthy or enjoyable, and even that it sounds "dumb." Who would voluntarily spend a month in a car? Well, lots of people, apparently -- just not all at once. 

I was just at the Brickworks last night and saw the car he lived in - I was test-driving a series of electric cars for fun. Plus it was family pizza night from their brick ovens. Worth a trip!


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

MoneyGal said:


> Plus it was family pizza night from their brick ovens. Worth a trip!


Really? We were going to go this week, but I thought that was on Thursdays? Ooops.


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Shoot! Would have been great to see you - we were there for hours.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Reminds me of the telco (I think?) that hired homeless people to act as mobile hotspots, carrying around the networking gear, during a major event. It seemed ethically questionable, but I suppose it was an agreement between willing adults.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Good point Andrew - it is sort of similar.

I guess the difference for me is that a mobile hotspot is something useful. A car driving around using up gas is a big waste.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

MoneyGal said:


> It was to highlight how much time people in the GTA actually spend commuting in a year.


On that point - I would question the duration of their demonstration. According to the Star - the guy lived in the car for 29 days which totals 696 hours.

What does 696 hours break down to per day for an average GTAer? 

I made the assumption that an average person works 229 days per year which means that the average person is commuting for a total of 3 hours on every workday. There is no way that the actual average is anywhere near this high. I work with tons of people who commute from all over the place and I would say that 3 hours is at the high end of the commuting range.

I would be a lot more like to believe an average around 1.5 hours per day.

To figure out the 229 working days, I took 52 weeks * 5 days - 21 days holiday - 8 stat holidays - 2 sick days.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

no sillier than naming your kid "Turok" 
http://news.cnet.com/Turok-maker-plays-the-name-game/2100-1040_3-955594.html


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

FP: I hear you. I haven't bothered to do any math around how the average might have been calculated. I will say, though, that EVERY person I currently work with (in my "pod") commutes 3h per day.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

MoneyGal said:


> I will say, though, that EVERY person I currently work with (in my "pod") commutes 3h per day.


I know this statement can't be 100% true unless you are the world's slowest cyclist. 

Ok, so including you - what is the average daily commute for your posse or pod or whatever....


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Do I work "with" myself? It is a mystery. I am sure I drag the whole average down.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Four Pillars said:


> On that point - I would question the duration of their demonstration. According to the Star - the guy lived in the car for 29 days which totals 696 hours.
> 
> What does 696 hours break down to per day for an average GTAer? ...



Of course part of the challenge is what is an "average" GTAer?

I'm guessing the guy commuting from Orilla to Bay & Bloor does not count. But then again, does the guy living five blocks away five days of the week and then goes home on weekends to Niagara Falls count either?

I'm guessing my brother-in-law who drove from Etobicoke to Durham and back would count.


Cheers


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Eclectic12 said:


> I'm guessing my brother-in-law who drove from Etobicoke to Durham and back would count.
> Cheers


Yup and me from Major Mac/404 to Mississauga Road/401 for several years. 45 minutes was perfection. 1 hour was normal and 1:45 was frequent.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

kcowan said:


> Yup and me from Major Mac/404 to Mississauga Road/401 for several years. 45 minutes was perfection. 1 hour was normal and 1:45 was frequent.


I'd consider myself an outsider, living in Waterloo on the weekends. However, for the three years I was staying with my sister/brother-in-law in Etobicoke the commute to Bay & Bloor was:

a) perfection - TTC subway 25 to 27 minutes 92% of the time each way.

b) exception - TTC for 45 minutes one way, regular amount the other.

c) drive myself three times - 35 minutes to get there at the time of my choice, 2 hours to return at 5pm.

Some of the others were coming in from Brampton or Ajax ... or should I say sitting in traffic ...
I still think they were silly to drive but they were convinced it was normal.

Cheers


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