Toronto Ad agency BlackJet develops a Twitter hashtag powered turkey feeder to help feed our city's homeless this Thanksgiving.
For every 1000 tweets that include the hashtag #HomelessTurkey,
10 turkeys will be donated to Good Shepherd Ministries annual Thanksgiving meal.
Press:
TORONTO, ON (October 9, 2013) Blackjet Inc., a Toronto-based marketing agency, launched today an innovative digital campaign to increase awareness for their client, Good Shepherd, a food and service provider for the city’s homeless. The concept is simple – every time someone includes #HomelessTurkey in a tweet, a small portion of feed will be dispensed from a Blackjet custom-built and programmed hashtag-powered feeder to three lucky turkeys that have been spared from their Thanksgiving fate. For every 1000 tweets that includes the hashtag #HomelessTurkey before October 10, 10 turkeys will be donated to Good Shepherd’s annual Thanksgiving meal. The campaign is a pro-bono initiative for the agency.
Blackjet’s custom turkey feeder is powered by a trough-auger, controlled via a USB relay, which connects to a server that scours Twitter for all tweets containing the hashtag #HomelessTurkey. When the hashtag is used, the server activates the USB relay, which near-instantly feeds the turkeys.
Tweet a turkey and watch it eat live now at HomelessTurkey.com.
Blackjet enlisted Thunderclap to help amplify social reach and awareness, in turn maximizing the number of turkeys to be donated to Good Shepherd. Thunderclap, a social media crowdspeaking platform, will broadcast a message tomorrow from the accounts of all #HomelessTurkey campaign supporters, reaching an additional 120,000 potential supporters at the exact same time.
Also beginning today is a three-day, on-site activation at the corner of Queen and Soho Sts. in Toronto, where a live feed of the hashtag-fed turkeys (comfortable on a farm in New Tecumseth, ON) will stream daily from 10:00 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET. The live stream will be accompanied by a street team who will educate passersby on the Good Shepherd’s services for Toronto’s homeless.
Good Shepherd serves more than 1200 free meals to the homeless everyday, more than any other organization in Toronto. Well known on the streets of Toronto as a place to get a hot meal, clean clothes and a safe, clean bed for the night, Good Shepherd is a leading provider of comprehensive services to homeless, disadvantaged and marginalized people in the city.