Oh that will keep the demons out of his head...

His appearance stems from his experiences. He looks like he needs some real help, not just a new coat of paint.

"Physical transformation"... you mean a haircut and a shave? Let's take another look at them teef.

Couldn't agree more - this is disgusting. Implying that a homeless veteran's problems can be solved with some deftly applied hair coloring and an expensive suit doesn't give this guy and his struggles the respect he deserves.

But maybe one needs a glimpse of what can be, in order to make the next steps?

If you were an employer interviewing people for a job, would you hire the man @0:05 or @2:01 ?

While not the cure for alcoholism, I think this boosted his self-esteem, and gave him just enough confidence to try to turn his life around. Hopefully AA will help him stop drinking.

How about internally?

He'd be completely hirable with a 10 dollar haircut at cost cutters, a dress shirt and some slacks.

The fanfare, expense and emphasis on the physical aspect of his transformation over to the lip service his real challenging journey gets, is some gross combination of a marketing ploy and the worst aspects of our society's desire for cute feel good stories and absolutely zero depth, realism or true compassion.

There is something to be said for "the clothes makes the man".

I think their point was not that a simple makeover can change a mans life, merely that you can't define somebody by their appearance.

It's pretty easy to be negative about this - but I'm sure every single one of you nay sayers have experience that moment when you cleaned up real nice and thought to yourself "Daaaamn. That's me"

Now multiply that by a thousand. That's what that dude must have felt. I bet he saw himself in that suit, with that cut and trim and thought "Holy shit. This is me." I bet he saw himself in a new light and felt absolutely awesome, if only for a little while.

Sure, it's not a quick solution. Sure, it's a coat of paint. But it could be a great start.

I say bravo to these guys. Even if it doesn't pan out, they gave that guy a wonderful wave of emotion.

True enough regarding peeps wanting that "feel-good" response continually-Superficial adjustments anchored in emotion are short-lived.
To address ant's question, one's outer world (physical presentation, expression, habits, interests, etc.) manifests as a window into one's inner world -A dishevled appearance reflects internal conflict, chaos. The steps taken to adjust by creating one or several new habits (grooming, healthy diet, etc.), while at the same time discarding deleterious habits (addictions, shit-think, harmful associations), will alter a human forever. The hardest thing for this man to deal with are his routines that brought him to this point of rescue. Adjusting them radically at this stage in the spiral may be the jolt needed.

Definitely, he'd benefit greatly from he support of others who have made similar journeys.

30 days is enough to meta-program oneself-A good general rule of thumb: While trying to adjust or discard actions, attitudes, habits, etc., is to simultaneously adopt a completely new beneficial daily action or exercise to accompany the elimination of another.

Well, they do mention at the end getting him housing and treatment for his alcoholism, which would be a pretty huge improvement to his life. Those are of course programs they can't take credit for, but if they convinced him to do it and got the paperwork in, that would be pretty helpful.

Had to upvote because they said he went to AA for his problem. Doing something about it is a first step that not many take. Say what you will about the intent of the video, if he's doing it, for what ever reason, it gets an upvote from me.

One of the first steps to recovery is believing in yourself, and while how one looks only seems superficial, it definitely helps build up confidence to continue on.