Putpockets: New London Street Santa Claus

by candice.tsuei | August 20, 2009 at 12:29 pm

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Everybody knows what pick pocketing is, and every tourist in London has been told to always look out for the sneaky pickpockets. However, TalkTalk, a company often applauded for innovative marketing ideas, has launched its latest scheme, titled "putpockets." Instead of pickpocketing, putpocketing is putting money into random innocent people's pockets.

TalkTalk have hired a team of ex-pickpockets to put something nice into the pockets of unsuspecting bystanders. The team of twenty ex-pickpockets have been dispatched to London and will be at the following locations during August: Leicester Square, Oxford Circus, Covent Garden, Westminster, Trafalgar Square and the South Bank.

The putpocketing initiative will run until the end of August in London, then extend countrywide. These former pickpockets will surreptitiously approach unguarded pockets or open handbags and place money along with a card explaining where the cash has come from. The cash amount ranges from £5 to £20.

'It feels good to give something back for a change - and Britons certainly need it in the current economic climate,' said Chris Fitch, a former pickpocket who now heads the putpocketing initiative.

It is estimated that at least £100,000 will be given away.

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