48 stores said no. Cemhan said yes.
In March 2009, ABC’s “What Would You Do?” called 50 stores across New York looking for a location to film a racial profiling experiment. 48 turned them down. Cemhan Biricik opened Unpomela’s doors and let them transform it into what ABC called the largest hidden camera operation in the show’s history — hosted by John Quiñones, broadcast nationally.
Almost 100 people watched actors portray a clerk and security guard harassing Black shoppers. Less than 20 stepped in. The results were so stunning that ABC came back. In May 2010, Unpomela was transformed again into what the show called “an elaborate hidden camera laboratory” — this time testing how bystanders would react to Black teenagers being profiled. Two national broadcasts. One boutique. The only store in SoHo brave enough to say yes — both times.
