Two Beggers

Recently I was having a conversation with an old friend, that’s marketing director for a large manufacturer, about how some marketing strategies involve building a level of spite for the competition. Brought up an old story, and as I remember it…

Two beggars sat on the ground in Mexico City, both with a tin-cup in front of them, hoping for a few pesos from the passers-by. One beggar sat in front of a large cross, while the other sat in front of a Star of David. As the people hurried by, many of them dropped a coin in the beggar’s cup that sat in front of the cross. But rarely did anyone drop a coin into the cup of the beggar that sat in front of the Star of David. A young priest standing nearby watched the scene and felt bad for the beggar in front of the star and walked over to him. “Old man,” he said, “this is a devoutly Catholic country. Don’t you know by sitting next to the other beggar, you’ll not receive many coins? In fact, you will likely create spite causing people to give even more coins to the other beggar.” The old beggar looked up at the priest and then over to the other beggar in front of the cross and said, “Moishe—look who’s trying to tell us about marketing!”