Real estate brokers get prickly for charity

Nobody likes a prick.

That's more than just words to live by for Tampa Bay area Cushman & Wakefield commercial real estate brokers and agents. It's also the creative and edgy slogan for a campaign behind the agency's charity of choice, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

“We want people to say, wow what's that about?” says Cushman & Wakefield Managing Director of Investor Services Tim Rivers. “It's quite provocative. It's not a safe marketing campaign.”

The campaign, which ran through October, sold T-shirts with the phrase “Nobody likes A PRICK” on front, next to a needle. The back states: “Do you know about T1D? Find out what you can to do help at JDRF.org.”

The idea for the shirt and campaign stems from Cushman & Wakefield Future Leaders, a group of up-and-coming brokers and agents spread through more than 25 nationwide markets, including Tampa. CWFL sponsored 35 events and campaigns in 2012, according to its website, which led to $600,000 in donations for a host of charities.

The Tampa area brokers in CWFL approached Rivers about the Nobody likes a prick campaign a few months ago. He loved the idea, and the cause resonates: Rivers' teenage son has Type 1 diabetes, and Rivers has been active in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Tampa chapter. He's currently president-elect of the chapter.