Symbolic laws is on the rise in Denmark and January 2019 it’s the homeless to take the brunt. A law has been passed, that as a homeless you’re not allowed to sleep in a camp anymore. The law fails to define camp, so homeless people gets arrested for sleeping on a piece of carboard. It is however completely legal to sleep in a camp, if you sleep in front of store in line for a sale. Seems highly unfair some people are allowed to do what other people over are not allowed to do.

For a newspaper like Ekstra Bladet who has a long history for safeguarding the people, by holding power to account and is notorious for exposing corruption and hidden agendas, it was important to do something about it.

We launched a webshop for the homeless, called Homeless Home Sale. A webshop so they can always sleep in line for a sale and therefor are not breaking the law. In the shop you can get in line for various items, that randomly changes each day. When you get in line, you’ll receive a ticket number based on how many active users there is at the moment. The shop only works in certain areas where homeless people are usually kicked away from. Every morning the sale started over and a new line begun.

In Denmark it is not unusual for the homeless to own smartphones. As people hardly carry cash anymore, the smartphone is used to give the homeless money and for paying for things they sell.

We wanted to connect with new audiences and make them understand, that we are more than just a paper. With launch of the webshop, we ran Facebook post, which we targeted non-readers. We targeted groups whom we knew would sympathise with the action and therefore give positive feedback to the post and increase the relevance score and advance the organic reach.

Before opening the store, we filled the areas where it worked, with posters announcing the opening. On the launch date we ran ads in the paper, along with social posts. But also, we placed a journalist on the streets, who lived together with the homeless for a week before the launch. After launch she wrote several pieces about life as a homeless, which filled the paper for weeks after the opening.

The idea sparked heavy conversations online Facebook and Twitter. Within hours the opening, the first media grabbed the story, which inspired several politicians to join the debate.

8.5 million media impressions

8.400 people used the ‘get in line’ function

Positive mentions on Facebook, increased with 270%