[Image taken from here.]Brazilian fashion retailer C&A has come up with an innovative idea to connect their social media presence with their actual physical stores and products. Their “Fashion Like” initiative works by C&A posting photos of a number of their products on their Facebook page and invites customers to “like” the ones that they, erm, like. Meanwhile, special hooks on the racks in their stores subsequently display those votes in real time, giving in-store shoppers a clear indication of each item’s online popularity. For many shoppers, it will give them that extra assurance and approval from their peers that what they are buying is actually nice. Nice.  

Image taken from here, sorry for not asking. Thank you for the little loan... 

Introduction From Ruby:
When I read about Homeboy Industries in Fast Company this month it resonated with me on SOOO many levels and indeed, is pretty similar to something I'm trying to set up here, albeit on a scale that is - for the moment - something we can only aspire too… Whilst I know we're gonna be talking a lot more about what we're getting up to, I thought we should kick the conversation off with a solemn salute [or nice knuckle knock] to Father Gregory Boyle and his gang of great homies [his words, not mine]… Sweeney's gonna tell you the tale, but in the meantime, keep buying that Salsa huh? Nice, nice, I love this... Pseudo x

Homeboy Industries: A Lesson In Belief

"Once he [Father Boyle] came across a brawl, the largest he had ever seen [of] 50-60 men, with baseball bats, blocking four lanes of traffic... He ran in to the middle of the mob and bellowed 'Put down the motherfucking bats!" [Taken from The House of Second Chances, an article by Douglas McGray for Fast Company Magazine]
People are not permanently or inherently criminal. The purpose of prisons and the justice system is to provide rehabilitation and to restore offenders back into society. Habitual offending - and the revolving door culture of prisons across the world - is a vicious cycle. To overcome this, we feel, it is essential that efforts are made to help people become helpful to society, as opposed to harmful. A key factor in doing this is, arguably, to help ex-offenders gain employment, and to feel helpful [not just helped] themselves...

The story of Father Gregory Boyle and The Homeboy industries is pretty special. A giant mural that spans half a block in a neighbourhood in East L.A depicts Martin Luther King, Emiliano Zapata, and, Father Boyle.  It's safe to say that Boyle is regarded as a local legend and a saint in Los Angeles, and this is due to his dedication and commitment to a project he founded back in 1992, Homeboy Industries. Boyle understood that one of the greatest problems in his community was the lack of work,
'especially for young men who had spent time in prison-and, by extension, a pervasive sense of hopelessness' [FC].


Father Boyle has a rather special connection with people in the community and beyond, and still resides in a humble converted garage with just enough room to sleep and read... He's put massive - and impressive - amounts of energy [and personal money] in to developing real, proper personal relations with people that others would turn their eyes from, those that are regarded as dangerous to society. He addresses them by 'son', 'kiddo', 'dawg' and 'mijo'. What started out as a small scale community operation has developed beyond belief. By 2010, Homeboy was the biggest gang-intervention program in the U.S, and hundreds of Boyle's "Homies" were employed in industries that range from cafe's to tattoo removal.

The initiative has had support from major players in the business community, politicians, and generous donors, because their is a great belief that Father Boyle's project is not just noble, but incredibly effective in creating jobs and transforming lives. A bakery closed in the community, so Homeboy Industries re-opened their own bakery. Essentially, they are creating industries where they are needed, and creating jobs for those that really need faith and capital invested in them. As Boyle explains:


'We don't hire homies to make bread. We bake bread to hire homies.' 

Homeboy Industries is now a recognised brand with a strong identity and even stronger authenticity; something many brands still struggle to maintain...  One can find their logo on taco's and salsa across 250 Ralph's supermarkets in the US already, with plans to expand even further... They have a cafe at City Hall, and are making plans to have a cafe at L.A International Airport too, it's inspiring.

The passion, belief, and faith that has been invested into these project by Father Boyle and his unlikely crew of ex-offenders, businessmen and philanthropists have reinvigorated a sector of society that - to - many would appear to be a lost cause.

This notion of connecting positive and productive rehabilitation with industry and commerce is a concept that is currently being identified in the U.K too. Even the front page of today's Metro reads;

"It's not just a jail...It's an M&S jail with prisoners and workers"
Whilst, of course, there's much to discuss, argue and debate around initiatives like the new one M&S are considering, we feel it's time worth taking to talk... For the time being, Father Boyle, we Pseudo Salute You.

Nice.

As part of the launch of TFL’s March road safety campaign, they have partnered with Live Magazine to save thousands of teenagers, through an innovative game that will engage over 300,000 Live readers.The game has proven highly effective in improving road safety. The game is hosted directly on Live Magazine’s website and is aimed at getting 11-14-year-olds to look out for their mates on the road. By playing the game, users are taught essential road survival skills, and due to the addictive nature of it, core messages are inherently embedded in the user's mind. Users also have a chance to win tickets to this year’s Underage Festival including freebies from Cineworld and other prizes from We7.com, Nickelodeon and MTV. 258 young people are killed or injured on London’s road every year than any other type of injury, making this game the first of it’s kind to make a huge and rewarding impact on young lives.
Of the research on conducted by Live, 92% of interviewees said that the game ‘made them think differently about crossing the road when with mates’ and 85% said they ‘were more likely to consider using a zebra crossing next time they cross the road’.

-  Live Magazine is hosting the game until Sunday 6th May in a dedicated microsite .

-  Users who complete the game will 100% win a prize. It takes roughly 20 minutes on average to get to the end of the game.