Why not just brand the word “LOSER” on their forehead and then pants them?
Don’t count out Florida when it comes to batshit insanest state in the union. It seemed that Arizona and Texas had a lock on the prestigious title, but Florida has been doing some pretty crazy shit as of late.
Here’s yet another example: Workforce Central FLorida, a federally-funded jobs agency is spending a crap ton of money (nearly $75,000) to raise awareness of its services.
Seriously:
It may be hard getting a job in today’s labor market, but Workforce Central Florida is prepared to give you a cape — a shiny, red cape.
At least while supplies last.
The region’s federally funded jobs agency is spending more than $73,000 on a media campaign to raise awareness of its services.
As part of a superhero theme, it has created a cartoon character named “Dr. Evil Unemployment” and spent more than $14,000 on 6,000 satiny superhero capes.
It plans to distribute the capes to jobless residents who participate in the agency’s “Cape-A-Bility Challenge.”
To win a cape, a contestant can become a Workforce Central Florida fan on Facebook, take a Facebook quiz — “What Superhero Are You?” — or have a photo taken with a foam cutout of Dr. Evil Unemployment.
Job seekers and employers who participate become eligible to win a $1,000 prize package, featuring gift cards from Visa, Barnes & Noble and the U.S. Postal Service. Job seekers can also win $125 worth of résumé paper. Only two prize packages will be given away. [Why not just spend the damn money and give as many people free resume paper as you can?]
The goal of the campaign is to “generate awareness of WFC and our programs,” agency Vice President Kimberly Sullivan wrote in an email. The agency spent about $2,300 on 12 foam board cutouts of Dr. Evil Unemployment, each about 5 feet tall. [What the?! -ed.]
It paid $14,200 for the capes — almost 20 percent of the campaign’s budget — which feature the “Cape-A-Bility” logo and the Workforce website.
“I have 6,000 capes to hand out,” Sullivan said. [I'm in the market for 6,000 capes with which to smother you. -ed.]
But just how useful Central Florida’s 116,000 unemployed workers will find capes — and the larger campaign — is unclear. Unemployment raises difficult self-esteem questions, and many jobless people say they work hard to maintain a sense of self-respect.
“Wow … I mean, wow,” said Ryan Julison, a former vice president of communications with Ginn Resorts. “That’s all I can say.”
Yup. That’s all I can say, too.
No wait, I can say this: REALLY? Lots of folks find it incredibily demoralizing and embarrassing to find themselves unemployed (present company excluded, thankfully). Making light of their situation, by giving them cheap satin capes is an awesome way to crank their self-confidence up to 11.
Good grief.
(H/T Nia!)
[via The Raw Story]
