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In the first week of December 1993 a press release was distributed to the Columbus, Ohio news media innocently announcing the formation of a new charity to benefit the homeless. There was just one catch. Instead of providing the homeless with food and shelter, this charity would provide them with guns and ammunition. It was named 'The Arm the Homeless Coalition.'
The press release declared that "The Arm the Homeless Coalition will be collecting donations to provide firearms for the homeless of Columbus." These firearms would "provide desperately needed protection for America's disadvantaged." The release ended on a cheery note: "Santas will be at area malls collecting money for this vital and charitable cause." A photograph accompanying the release showed a man in a santa suit waiting to accept donations. The media were instructed to address their queries to Jack Kilmer, the Coalition's director.
It didn't take long for this press release to stir up a hornet's nest of controversy. The Columbus Dispatch denounced the new Coalition in an angrily-worded article. Then the Charitable Solicitations Board of Columbus, inspired by the Dispatch article, fired off a cease-and-desist letter to the Arm the Homeless Coalition, forbidding them from engaging in any fund-raising activities. But things really began to heat up when the Associated Press managed to obtain an interview with the mysterious Jack Kilmer, who defended the Coalition's goal of arming the homeless by asking, "Who more needs to exercise their constitutional right to have a weapon for protection?" Soon newspapers throughout Ohio, as well as national media such as CNN and Rush Limbaugh, were covering the story.
That weekend, as promised, a man in a Santa Claus outfit showed up at the Columbus City Center claiming to represent the Arm the Homeless Coalition. But he declined to accept donations.
By this time the media was in a frenzy. Letters from the public were pouring in denouncing the charity, and editorial columns were buzzing with condemnation for the cause. But when a Dispatch reporter tracked down the owner of the post office box listed on the press release, he found that it belonged not to Jack Kilmer, but to to an Ohio State University graduate student named Paul Badger. In fact, no record of Jack Kilmer's existence could be found.
When contacted, Badger insisted that Jack Kilmer was real, but a few days later, in the company of two of his classmates and co-conspirators, Douglas Lloyd and Eric Zimmerman, Badger confessed that the Arm the Homeless Coalition was a hoax. There was no Jack Kilmer. There was only a post office box and a phony press release.
The three students explained that they had hoped to focus attention on the issues of violence, homelessness, and the media's love of sensationalism. But they had been unprepared for the savage backlash the hoax had received. After meeting with officials from both OSU and the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless, the students issued another statement explaining that the Arm the Homeless Coalition was nothing but a satirical hoax.
This might have seemed like the end of the Arm the Homeless Coalition, but the joke lived on and began popping up in other corners of the nation. In October 1996 it reemerged in San Luis Obispo, promoted by a man named David Gross who managed to completely fool his local TV station before the prank was exposed. Then in 1999 the Phoenix New Times ran a story about the Arm the Homeless Coalition on its front page as an April 1 gag. This time 60 Minutes II, the Associated Press, and numerous local radio stations fell for it. Whenever it shows up, the Arm the Homeless prank is inevitably denounced as a cruel and tasteless joke. But the Museum of Hoaxes views it in the same light as Jonathan Swift's classic A Modest Proposal. In other words, its cruelty is exactly what gives it a satirical bite (also see Bonsai Kittens). It ingeniously managed to offend simultaneously a broad swath of society, including liberal crusaders for the homeless, conservative opponents of gun control, and average middle-class people who were terrified by the vision of armed bands of homeless militants that it conjured up. Therefore, precisely because the Arm the Homeless Coalition proved so adept at beguiling the media and outraging the public, it earns a place in the top ten college pranks of all time.
In the first week of December 1993 a press release was distributed to the Columbus, Ohio news media innocently announcing the formation of a new charity to benefit the homeless. There was just one catch. Instead of providing the homeless with food and shelter, this charity would provide them with guns and ammunition. It was named 'The Arm the Homeless Coalition.'
The press release declared that "The Arm the Homeless Coalition will be collecting donations to provide firearms for the homeless of Columbus." These firearms would "provide desperately needed protection for America's disadvantaged." The release ended on a cheery note: "Santas will be at area malls collecting money for this vital and charitable cause." A photograph accompanying the release showed a man in a santa suit waiting to accept donations. The media were instructed to address their queries to Jack Kilmer, the Coalition's director.
It didn't take long for this press release to stir up a hornet's nest of controversy. The Columbus Dispatch denounced the new Coalition in an angrily-worded article. Then the Charitable Solicitations Board of Columbus, inspired by the Dispatch article, fired off a cease-and-desist letter to the Arm the Homeless Coalition, forbidding them from engaging in any fund-raising activities. But things really began to heat up when the Associated Press managed to obtain an interview with the mysterious Jack Kilmer, who defended the Coalition's goal of arming the homeless by asking, "Who more needs to exercise their constitutional right to have a weapon for protection?" Soon newspapers throughout Ohio, as well as national media such as CNN and Rush Limbaugh, were covering the story.
That weekend, as promised, a man in a Santa Claus outfit showed up at the Columbus City Center claiming to represent the Arm the Homeless Coalition. But he declined to accept donations.
By this time the media was in a frenzy. Letters from the public were pouring in denouncing the charity, and editorial columns were buzzing with condemnation for the cause. But when a Dispatch reporter tracked down the owner of the post office box listed on the press release, he found that it belonged not to Jack Kilmer, but to to an Ohio State University graduate student named Paul Badger. In fact, no record of Jack Kilmer's existence could be found.
When contacted, Badger insisted that Jack Kilmer was real, but a few days later, in the company of two of his classmates and co-conspirators, Douglas Lloyd and Eric Zimmerman, Badger confessed that the Arm the Homeless Coalition was a hoax. There was no Jack Kilmer. There was only a post office box and a phony press release.
The three students explained that they had hoped to focus attention on the issues of violence, homelessness, and the media's love of sensationalism. But they had been unprepared for the savage backlash the hoax had received. After meeting with officials from both OSU and the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless, the students issued another statement explaining that the Arm the Homeless Coalition was nothing but a satirical hoax.
This might have seemed like the end of the Arm the Homeless Coalition, but the joke lived on and began popping up in other corners of the nation. In October 1996 it reemerged in San Luis Obispo, promoted by a man named David Gross who managed to completely fool his local TV station before the prank was exposed. Then in 1999 the Phoenix New Times ran a story about the Arm the Homeless Coalition on its front page as an April 1 gag. This time 60 Minutes II, the Associated Press, and numerous local radio stations fell for it. Whenever it shows up, the Arm the Homeless prank is inevitably denounced as a cruel and tasteless joke. But the Museum of Hoaxes views it in the same light as Jonathan Swift's classic A Modest Proposal. In other words, its cruelty is exactly what gives it a satirical bite (also see Bonsai Kittens). It ingeniously managed to offend simultaneously a broad swath of society, including liberal crusaders for the homeless, conservative opponents of gun control, and average middle-class people who were terrified by the vision of armed bands of homeless militants that it conjured up. Therefore, precisely because the Arm the Homeless Coalition proved so adept at beguiling the media and outraging the public, it earns a place in the top ten college pranks of all time.
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Tags:
homeless , media , interesting , charity , hoax , joke , gullible , satire , poor taste , clever , firearms
homeless , media , interesting , charity , hoax , joke , gullible , satire , poor taste , clever , firearms
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