Pimp This Bum: salvation or exploitation?

Marketing specialist Kevin Dolan and his son Sean were looking for a way to test out a campaign to generate buzz for Ascendgence, their Internet marketing startup, when they approached a homeless man named Tim Edwards and paid him $100 a day to hold a cardboard sign advertising their Web site, Pimp This Bum. Now, the whole thing is making headlines for the Dolans, and thousands of dollars in donations for Tim Edwards. Corporate sponsors have even signed on, and Tim is receiving free rehab services from Sunray Treatment and Recovery in Seattle, airfare provided by Southwest Airlines.