Pigs against Poverty

March 1, 2006 12:36 AM

True Majority Weird+political+gadgets: The inventor of Hokey Spokes has teamed up with Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry's fame) to add a computerized EL-wire light display system to Ben's family of motorized pigs, which illustrate the relative size of the military, education, and world health/AIDS budgets. All is service of Ben's TrueMajority project. Pics here.
posted by re6smith (10 comments total)

Metafilter: A family of motorized pigs
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 12:40 AM on March 1, 2006

Hokey Spokes are one of the many bicycle related gadgets that inhabit the nether world between really cool and incredibly goofy. No comment on the rest of the links.
posted by fixedgear at 1:43 AM on March 1, 2006

They'd look right at home on a Black Rock City evening.
posted by redteam at 3:28 AM on March 1, 2006

I don't quite understand how this is the best way to raise awareness about problems in America's budget. Are they going to drive past the white house over and over? Really slowly? So everyone can read the writing? And then once more so they can digest what it means?

Nevertheless, it's quite a cool idea.
posted by jrengreen at 3:39 AM on March 1, 2006

His Oreo animation is a good way to illustrate problems in the US budget.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:42 AM on March 1, 2006

I have no idea what this post is about, and can't tell from clicking the first link. Next.
posted by mecran01 at 7:52 AM on March 1, 2006

How is the Oscar-Mayer Wienermobile going to raise awareness?
posted by surlycat at 10:03 AM on March 1, 2006

D'oh. Wienermobile.

I guess this post is about the vast, unnecessary and wasteful U.S. military budget as compared to our domestic and foreign aid budgets, and the rolling pig/Oreo representation of the relative sizes thereof. Or maybe the fact that pigs/pig meat on wheels are inherently funny.
posted by surlycat at 10:14 AM on March 1, 2006

I drove this Pig in Florida. The purpose, I felt, was to draw attention. To start conversation. To get people thinking. In daylight without all the new neon they added it was a pretty effective display. This big pig is how much we've spent on the war, this smaller pig is how much we spend on K-12 education, and this teeeny weeny pig is how much we spend on fighting world poverty/hunger. So you have that classic hippie thing, "When the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber..."

I got lots of reactions, pro and against. I had an old lady shout at me "BETTER THERE THAN HERE!" a pro-war stance that has always boggled my mind. I had the owner of a local BBQ joint follow us for blocks and -- finally reaching a red light -- beg us to let him buy the our vehicles. I had road construction crews stop and stare.

Good times. Not sure about the neon, but we had to have the pig parked by nightfall as there was no effective way to see it. This is a good route around that..
posted by cavalier at 11:03 AM on March 1, 2006

buy the our vehicles.

I am is needing an editor.
posted by cavalier at 11:07 AM on March 1, 2006