BBH Labs caused quite a stir at SXSW with its “Homeless Hotspots” campaign, which turned some of Austin’s homeless into paid sources of Wi-fi service. The marketing firm said it was a way to raise awareness about the issue of homelessness while offering the participants a chance to earn money. Others thought it was degrading.

We asked for your opinion in the latest PRNewser Poll and 57 percent said though the firm had good intentions, the campaign was “misguided.” Nearly 30 percent said the campaign was “great,” raising awareness about the issue in an edgy way. And about 13 percent said it was a “horrible” idea.

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Marketing firm BBH Labs has kicked up some SXSW controversy for its “Homeless Hotspots” test program. Homeless people have been at the conference wearing t-shirts that announce they are “a 4G hotspot” in order to sell a connection. The seller keeps the proceeds.

According to the firm, the “charitable program” is an extension of another, Underheard in New York, which gave four homeless men prepaid cell phones in order to tweet their stories. In media outlets all over the world and comments on the BBH Labs blog, it has been criticized, with Wired writing, “It sounds like something out of a darkly satirical science-fiction dystopia.”

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