Are you a tattoo virgin? Are you up for making some legal, if slightly tasteless money? If so, you may consider selling your skin as a blank canvas to a company wanting to advertise its wares on your skin. Surprisingly, this is not a new idea. The idea was first put in print in Vibe magazine 20 years ago when they predicted that one day firms would pay to people walk around with advertising slogans tattooed on their visible skin. A fair stretch from being paid to walk around with a sandwich board…
Since 1999, many people have either used their fame to receive funds for advertising via tattoos, or become famous because they had an advertising tattoo displayed on their body. It is said the first occasion was when a US basketball player turned down the opportunity to have a slogan from a candy company tattooed for a fee in 2001. A few months later, cheerleaders were paid to have temporary tattoos on their midriffs at a Dance Team event. However, the most notorious tattoo ad that was carried out must be the one Golden Palace Casino paid $100,000 to the boxer, Bernard Hopkins to wear on his back during a match. This proved to be wildly effective, increasing online hits by 200% for the company and spawned a new advertising campaign method par excellence.
The first permanent tattoo was displayed for a princely sum of $7000 on the back of a man’s head by a web hosting service in 2003. A couple of years later, a certain Andrew Fischer gained worldwide notoriety for auctioning his forehead space on eBay for temporary tattoo advertising, with the final bid coming in at $37,375 for thirty days’ worth. Since then, tattoo advertising has almost become a mainstream activity with many well known brands deciding that this was a good use of their advertising dollar. So much so, in fact, that papers began to report that there were more people selling parts of their body for advertising than there were buyers. It is still true, though that tattoo advertising is a viable way of making money, despite the fact that the fewer tattoos you have, the more money you are likely to be offered for the privilege.
Some get all moral and up tight about tattoo advertising, especially the permanent kind, but others feel that this is a legitimate way to use your body. So much so that middle men have popped up all over the place. You can now register your willingness with an agency which matches potential advertising tattooists with the companies that want to rent their skin. Beware, though, as some of these ask for money up front. Many people will only offer to have a temporary tattoo, but others are willing to go permanent. Some would say though that this is a bit silly as most end up regretting their decision. Prime example of someone who should regret her decision would have to be Kari Smith. Kari had a permanent tattoo saying: goldenpalace.com inked across her forehead…
I want to do this how do I do it.