Inked Talk

There was a bulletin floating around the Myspace tattoo community today entitled “Get Tattooed for the Good of Your Country.” I clicked on it, assuming that some tattoo shop was running a special on patriotic tattoos, which in my opinion would have been pretty awesome and worthy of reposting. What I read instead had nothing to do with a tattoo sale, but it still brought me a smile, and so I wanted to share it here on Inked Talk.

The bulletin was referring to the Economic Stimulus checks that are beginning to appear in the bank accounts of certain taxpayers this week. Those who qualify may receive up to $600.00 for the purpose of giving this sluggish economy a bit of a jolt by freeing up consumer finances and hopefully inspire a bit of spending. I’m no economist, but I think that sounds a little optimistic. On the other hand, I may get some “free money” out of it, so who am I to complain?

The bulletin was encouraging people to use their economic stimulus checks on new ink. As the bulletin said:

“We say GO GET TATTOOED! and support a business that really deserves it. Save our economy, support your tattoo artist, get a lifetime of ink for one check, and be a true American all at the same time.”

Again, I’m no economist or mathematician, so if a tattoo is the best use of an economic stimulus payment, I can’t say.

But it is a fine idea to go ahead and spend some cash on getting some good ink from a good artist?

Of course it is. It is certainly a much better plan than buying some more stuff you don’t really need from Wal Mart.

If you don’t already have plans for that stimulus payment, maybe you can set some aside and get yourself some new ink, courtesy of the federal government.

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Talking NFL

…that it deserves its very own article.

There was an link to an incredible Spider Man tattoo on Fark.com last week, and I wanted to research the artist who created it.

It didn’t take long to trace this piece to Dan Hazelton of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His website gives a little insight into Hazelton’s work. The site itself is unpretentious, but the work on it speaks for itself. The website features gallery after gallery of incredible tattoos, beautiful airbrush work, incredible artwork and unique flash. Hazelton’s strength in tattooing clearly lies in his ability to make an image come to life with three-dimensional realism.

His work is impressive. The galleries on his website are definitely worth a look.

Not all tattoos turn out quite you how expect, and many just don’t stand the test of time. Sometimes an idea that sounds magnificent in your head looks terrible in ink. And while the mooning Tasmanian Devil may have been the coolest tattoo in the world when you were eighteen, you may feel less love for ol’ Taz at age thirty. Even though laser tattoo removal is becoming more affordable, the cover up is still the preferred method to forget about unwanted ink.

Cover-ups are usually needed on people who made a quick, spontaneous decision with little thought.

- Greg Foster, Custom Tattoo, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Tattoo artists see a lot of bad tattoos, and consequently they get a lot of requests to do cover up work. This week, Inked Talk spoke to two artists about the challenges involved with doing cover ups. In Part One of this feature, we will talk to Greg Foster of Custom Tattoo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin about his experience on cover up tattoos. Part Two will feature an interview with Studio of Darien, Wisconsin.

As a professional tattoo artist since 1996, Greg Foster has had extensive experience in cover-up work. He estimates that about one in every twenty customers that he sees is there for cover-up work.

Inked Talk: In your experience, what kind of work is most likely to become a future cover-up or regret?

Greg Foster: Cover-ups are usually needed on people who made a quick, spontaneous decision with little thought. You know, the walk-in client who says “I want a tattoo… I don’t know what I want, but I’ve got an hour.”

IT: As an artist, do you step in and redirect a customer who is set on a tattoo idea that you feel is going to be a future regret?

GF: I feel it’s my responsibility as an artist to steer them in the right direction, so yes, I do try to talk people out of a bad idea or improve it so they won’t regret the tattoo. I always try to schedule consultations with people so we can discuss their ideas. If something is obviously problematic, I will not hesitate to tell them it won’t work or it’s not a good idea, but I’ll also give them alternatives. The challenge is when someone clings to an idea of what they want and you know it’s a bad idea. Sometimes, it’s a sentimental attachment, too. This happens all the time with names of significant others or a drawing that the client drew up (and if the composition sucks, you don’t want to offend them, but you don’t want to give them a bad tattoo either). With names, I try to convince people not to get them on their neck or hands, because it’s a very visible area and you can’t do a whole lot with a cover-up in those areas, if they’re not willing to go much larger, which is typical.

One of Greg’s cover-up pieces. Before:

And after:

IT: Cover up work is clearly different from an original tattoo. What considerations do you have to take into account when doing a cover up? To what extent does the color and size of the tattoo play a role in what you can and can’t do for a cover up? What about the age of the tattoo being covered up - does that make a difference?

GF: You have to consider the size of the original tattoo, the colors used, whether or not there’s a lot of black in it, and the placement of the tattoo. Sometimes, there’s other tattoos near the one getting covered up that you have to work around too, and that can be difficult. If it’s a lightly colored or very faded tattoo, it’s easier to cover up, because a lot of colors will go over an old, faded or washed-out piece.

If the tattoo has a lot of black or dark colors, I usually suggest white-out sessions. This is basically applying several applications of white ink over the course of several sessions on top of the old tattoo. It works similar to a primer coat of paint. However, you can’t eliminate the original color, but it will lighten it to allow the new colors to go over it. The tattoo with the tiger coming out of the fish is an example of the white-out process. It’s a little more costly, but the best solution for dark-colored tattoos.

Covering up a darker piece:

IT: What is the most extensive or challenging cover up you have done?

GF: Probably on a friend of mine who needed extensive cover-up work on his arm. He had several small-to-medium sized tattoos all over his arm, scattered about. So we decided to cover them up with a full-sleeve with Egyptian scenery and subjects. It turned out great and I surprised myself. He’s very happy with the work (as am I) and it looks much better, because it looks intentional and there’s very little trace of the original tattoos. If it’s difficult to find the original tattoo, that’s when I know I’ve done a good cover-up.

Greg Foster tattoos at Custom Tattoo, located at 1956 N. Farwell Avenue, Milwaukee Wisconsin.
You can see more of his work at the Custom Tattoo website and the Custom Tattoo MySpace page.

Thanks for the great interview, Greg. Amazing work!

Please check back with Inkedtalk.com later this week when we see another artist’s take on cover up work.

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Home Biz Chat

Anyone who has ever suffered from a contact allergy knows the agony that comes with touching a nasty allergen: imagine a bad case of poison ivy, or the chicken pox, or an ugly weeping rash. Contact allergies can come from all kinds of things - certain chemicals, metals and even types of plant matter. Contact allergy symptoms begin to slow once the allergen is no longer in contact with the skin. But what happens if the allergen cannot be removed from the skin? Is it possible to be allergic to a tattoo?

The good news is that the most common allergic reaction resulting from tattooing is not related at all to the tattoo ink. Latex allergies are a common allergy, and the latex gloves used by a tattoo artist can cause a reaction in those with latex-sensitive skin. If you have a latex allergy - even if your allergy is very slight - it is a good idea to let your tattoo artist know ahead of time so that an alternative can be found. You will already be taxing your skin by getting it inked, and there is no need to compound the irritation by coupling it with a latex reaction. The prevalence of latex allergies has made non-latex gloves easy to find an inexpensive.

Another less common tattoo-related allergy is an allergy to the lotions or creams used to promote healing of the finished tattoo. A&D Ointment is a favorite among many tattoo enthusiasts to promote healing of a new tattoo, but some A&D lotions contain cod liver oil as a main ingredient. Fish and fish oil related allergies are not uncommon, and placing A&D on already irritated skin can be a bad if not downright dangerous idea if you have a fish allergy. If you are unsure about a fish allergy, there are many, many alternatives to A&D and other cod liver oil based lotions. Ask your tattoo artist what he or she recommends.

As for the tattoo ink itself, red ink seems to be the most common cause of allergic reactions, although some accounts of allergic reactions to yellow inks have been reported.

Photos of red ink allergy, as presented by Nicholas White MRCS and Gulraiz Rauf FRCS in a letter to the British Journal of Plastic Surgery:

Sadly, the options for someone with a tattoo ink allergy are limited. The tattoo can be removed, or the sufferer can simply “put up with it” and treat the affected area with lotions and creams to ease the discomfort. If you have concerns about how ink will react to your skin, talk to your tattoo artist about the ingredients in the ink he or she uses. There are a lot of broad statements on the Internet about tattoo ink but the truth is that every person is different and different tattoo artists use different inks with different ingredients. No standard answer on the Internet will be appropriate for all cases, no matter what Yahoo Answers says.

Ask questions first, and go directly to the source - the person who will be doing your tattoo - for the answers. If you still don’t feel comfortable with the possibility of an allergic reaction, then don’t get the tattoo. Simple as that.

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The Book Stacks

Salvador Dali, the famous Spanish surrealist painter, is an artist that most recognize by name. Those who don’t know Dali are easily prompted with the reminder that he’s the “melted clocks painter.” Everyone knows the melted clocks (Or, “The Persistence of Memory,” should the question arise on Trivial Pursuit). What does Spanish surrealism have to do with tattoos?

After seeing a lovely rendition of Van Gogh’s Starry Night as a full back tattoo, I have been fascinated by famous works of art as subjects for tattoos. For that reason, I began to do an informal survey of tattoo galleries searching for which famous artists’ works seem to be the most prevalent subjects of tattoos.

In perusing websites with extensive tattoo galleries, it seemed to me that Salvador Dali-inspired ink was far, far more common than Van Gogh, Picasso, and other artists whose works have found their way onto flesh. Why is that?

What is it about Dali that inspires people to carry his work on their skin permanently? His paintings aren’t “pretty” in any sort of traditional sense. Many are nightmarish perceptions - strange, twisted takes on reality. Some suggest suffering, and they present something frightening, unsettling and uncomfortable.

Perhaps that statement explains exactly what the attraction to Dali is for some tattoo enthusiasts. Tattoos aren’t associated with traditional beauty. although it certainly isn’t hard to see the beauty in tattoos and tattooed people. The self-infliction of pain goes against the most basic human instincts, but we do it anyway for the sake of a good tattoo or a well-placed piercing. To many, the sight of a heavily-modified person, be it tattoos, piercings or other mods, stirs a reaction of fascination and horror. A cross between “Look at that!” and “Why would she do that to herself?”

Maybe Dali makes a whole lot of sense for a tattoo.

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Mom’s Soap Box

Last week Inked Talk brought you an article about James Burns, a man who was selling the rights to tattoo an advertisement on his head.

The premise was simple enough, as the eBay auction explained:

My name is James. I am a married father of 4 who has a full time job, but needs some extra cash. I am selling advertising space on my skin. I will get your logo, website, whatever (nothing vulgar) tattooed on the back of my head or on my neck - your choice. If you choose my head, I will keep it shaved for 1 year to maintain visibility.

Burns’ wife contacted Inked Talk and commented on the article, and this week Burns himself agreed to speak about his experience selling ad space on his head on eBay.

Inked Talk: How did the auction ultimately end up?

James Burns: It ended with one bid - $99.99.

As of the writing of this article, the eBay auction can still be viewed here. However, eBay does remove listings after a few months.

IT: The Charleston Daily Mail article said your wife was supportive of the idea. What did your kids think about it?

JB: The kids think that it’s neat that I was on TV, but as far as the tattoo goes, they didn’t even bat an eyelash at it. Tattoos are such a normal part of our lives.

As the Charleston Daily Mail article and photo showed, Burns is no stranger to tattoos.

IT: Your restrictions said “no profanity” would be allowed in the tattoo. What about political statements? Would you refuse a “Vote so-and-so” tattoo if you were politically opposed to it?

JB: A political tattoo is so not my style. I would have to refuse that one, as I see politicians as profane.

IT: If you could choose the ideal advertising candidate for your head, who would it be? What would the ad say?

JB: If I could choose…hmm. I would want the ad to say “GAS PRICES SUCK!!” Signed, “We the People.”

Well said. Burns’ motivation for selling ad space on his head was in part due to the rising price of gas: I work 60 plus hours a week, so a second job is pretty much out of the question. I have tried to
get weekend odd jobs, but to no success. I figured this might help, Burns told Inked Talk.

IT: Did you have any negative reactions to your eBay auction?

JB: My mom wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of it, but she came around. She realized that I am willing to do whatever it takes (within legal boundaries) to achieve my goals.

IT: Do you have plans to continue to offer your head as advertising space?

JB: No, I think I have learned my lesson.

You can visit James Burns’ Myspace page and read more about his experiences there. He has information there about his Paypal account in case anyone would like to help out him and his family.

Speaking on behalf of Inked Talk, let me say that you have some serious, serious guts to do what you did for your family, and that is something to be admired. I hope that someone out there can help your family out.

I feel a little bit dumber every time I accidentally catch a few moments of TMZ or other celebrity-centric shows. It is as though my brain cells, one by one, commit seppuku, and I can’t say I blame them entirely. Today I visited TMZ.com for the first time because I had seen a link for a gallery of celebrity’s “Dumb Tattoos.” While I don’t favor coverage of celebrity tattoos, dumb celebrity tattoos could certainly be fun. I thought I’d be seeing a lot of bad ink, which admittedly there were a few “WTF” tattoos in the gallery. But the vast majority of the pictures were just tattoo photos, or worse: tattooless photos.

I guess this is why I don’t understand TMZ.

Sure, there were a few bad tattoos in the gallery. Everyone’s favorite whipping girl Britney has some faded looking dice on her wrist. Maybe she could fix those up when she’s done being nuts.

But on the next page they proceed to use this photo to mock Angelina Jolie’s tattoos:

I feel like I’m playing a game of “Where’s Waldo?”. What tattoo are they mocking in that picture? I don’t see it. Well…maybe that was a mistake. Certainly Angelina has tattoos - there are certainly enough pictures of them on other websites - but why use a picture featuring zero tattoos to mock someone’s tattoos? Maybe I’m missing something…perhaps those brain cells that died the last time I caught TMZ on television were the brain cells in charge of visual recognition of tattoos. Then again, it could just a fluke, a solitary mistake in their otherwise quality gallery.

No, wait, there are more invisible tattoos to mock.

A quick web search tells me that Mena Suvari has a tattoo on her back. So clearly this frontal picture is an excellent choice to mock her tattoo.

Maybe I’m not the one with the dying brain cells here.

And here’s another gem from their “bad tattoo” gallery:

Hmm. Maybe that goofy looking facial hair is really a tattoo?

I’m the last person you’d see criticizing another website on this blog because my purpose here is to talk ink, not to bash other sites. But dammit TMZ, don’t tease me by proclaiming to have a whole gallery of bad celebrity ink only to show me more generic pictures of Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.

Ah well. Thanks for reading.

-Jenn

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Parenting Teens Blog

Former Suicide Girls photographer Lithium Picnic posted this amazing photo on his Myspace page this week.

Lithium Picnic (photographer Phillip Warner) made a name for himself by shooting many of the earliest Suicide Girls with his distinctive photography style. Beautiful tattooed women are a running theme through his work. When he broke off with the Suicide Girls a lawsuit followed, as did many web sites proclaiming “Free Lithium Picnic.” The lawsuit, and other similar suits brought by Suicide Girls against other so-called “alt-porn” photographers and models that were formerly associated with the Suicide Girls caused a huge divide among Suicide Girls fans and a fantastic backlash from fans of the photographers and models who were targeted.

Sadly, the lawsuit led to the closing of the Lithium Picnic website which had formerly hosted a fantastic array of Phillip’s work. Fortunately, there are still a number of websites showcasing his talent.

The lawsuit has been financially taxing for Lithium Picnic, but there are ways for fans to help out. There are some amazing prints of Lithium Picnic’s work available starting at just $50.00 on this site. Every so often Apnea also posts some of her clothing and other items for sale on eBay. (None available as of this writing, sadly).

It is sad that the talents of such an amazing man are being held down by greedy people in search of the almighty dollar. I would like to hope that the loss of the Suicide Girls’ fanbase over this ridiculous lawsuit fully eclipses any monetary compensation they could get from any lawsuit.

Free Lithium Picnic!

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Digital Shutters

I was at Zoe’s Vicious Circle watching some tattoo artists at work a few weeks back when a twenty-something woman came in for a tattoo. She decided to get a nautical star on her hip. The owner of Zoe’s commented that nautical stars were the new tribal tramp stamp, meaning that it was becoming the tattoo of choice for the twenty-something party babe.

Nautical star tattoos have a long history. Obviously they were originally associated with water, specifically sailors who would rely upon the position of the stars for navigational purposes. In later years, the punk movement adopted the nautical star tattoo to some extent, and this adoption can probably be traced to a Sailor Jerry influence. While this sailor-to-punk lineage seems unlikely, perhaps the punk adoption of the nautical star makes a lot of sense as a symbol of finding one’s own way in life. Around the 1950s the nautical star was also adopted in the gay and lesbian circles as a symbol of their sexual affiliation.

The prevalence of the nautical star tattoo today suggests that there is a much wider audience attracted to this simple symbol now. Sailor Jerry’s resurgence in popularity as well as the growing fanbase of rockabilly and all its accouterments have almost certainly contributed to the recent interest in the nautical star. In addition, the nautical star’s versatility makes it a relatively easy tattoo to work into a larger piece. The nautical star can be done in any color, made any size, and because it is a relatively simple piece to ink it really doesn’t take much to work it into a more complex tattoo or a sleeve.

Is the nautical star really the new tramp stamp? There are thousands of hardcore Sailor Jerry fans, sailors, and rockabilly guys and gals out there who hope not. But for every one of them I’d wager that there are four college girl party babes thinking that a nautical star on their hip would be really hot.

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Frugalmania.com

The Internet is an amazing thing. Shopping, music, networking, games…it truly has everything to keep you entertained for hours while you should be working. It was no surprise to find quite a round-up of interesting, funny, and just plain bizarre tattoo-related videos on YouTube, the popular video sharing site. Here are some of the best of the best:

Yes, tattoos hurt.
This video features a young woman who just can’t manage the pain from her ankle tattoo. She’s being held by two people (one of which appears to be her mother), while she is chewing on what looks like a yellow plastic bit and screaming and crying wildly. You have to admire the patience of her tattoo artist who is totally taking it all in stride. In the future, perhaps she should stick to temporary tattoos.

Tattoos: A Dangerous Art

This excellent little mini-documentary exposes the dangers of home tattooing, as well as the relative simplicity of constructing a homemade tattoo gun. The video nicely contrasts the professional, clean environment of a good tattoo parlor with the workspace of a kitchen-table scratcher. Excellent subject matter. This is a well-made video and worth a watch.

Japanese Full Body Tattoo Video

This National Geographic video highlights some beautiful Japanese full-body tattoos. The video shows not only some of the incredible tattoos but it even briefly goes into technique and history. National Geographic has disabled video embedding for this piece, but you can follow this link to see this amazing piece.

This is just a small glimpse of some great tattooing videos on YouTube.

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Pop Buzz UK

Last week Inked Talk featured an article about a company in the UK that was surprised by how many people responded to a spoof ad offering to pay cash to anyone who would tattoo the company’s logo on their body. (If you missed the previous article, you can catch it here). It seems incredible that over one hundred people responded favorably to the fake advertisement, hoping to make some quick cash by selling ad space on their body. Those crazy Brits.

However, this apparently isn’t just some off phenomenon happening on the other side of the pond. In what appears to be a serious move to raise some funds for a motorcycle, a West Virginia man is selling ad space on his body.

James Burns has put his offer on eBay. With the starting bid at $99, Burns says he will get a tattoo of a company logo or whatever else the buyer wants — as long as it does not involve profanity, the Charleston Daily Mail reported.

The buyer must also pay for the tattoo unless the bidding goes above $5,000.

I attempted to find Burns’ ad on eBay but wasn’t able to locate it. However, I did find another advertisement for tattoo ad space:

I’m a 19 year old male. Im 6′ tall and 170 lbs and I am selling my upper arms lower legs or back or possibly my neck for tattoo advertising space for college. I live in St. Louis Missouri and would consider looking over local tattoo artists to be used. This is a great opportunity to advertise your company or corporation. Please make a reasonable bid nothing rediculously low.

You can view that eBay auction here while it lasts. This fellow sadly started his auction at just ninety-nine cents…I hope his bid goes over a couple of bucks.

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Worldy Chatter

Craigslist can be one of the most wonderful sites on the internet. Looking for a job? Check Craigslist. Need a car? Craigslist. Want to sell an old washer and dryer? Post Craigslist. Fall in love with a barista at Starbucks but too afraid to ask for her phone number? Post Craigslist and hope she reads it. Need a transvestite midget wrestler with a tickling fetish? You can probably find her on Craigslist.

There is not a lot of oversight on what can and cannot be posted on Craigslist, which is obviously both fantastic and frightening. A more disturbing trend that I have noticed on the local Craigslist are ads looking for volunteers to be tattooed by someone who wants to learn tattooing. The ads appear to be written by a variety of people: some claim that they are apprentices who need more willing flesh to practice on, others come right out and state that they just bought a tattoo kit and want to try it out. A recent ad that both disturbed me and gave me a chuckle involved an individual trying to profess the advantages of having your tattoo work done in the comfortable environment of his kitchen.

Getting a tattoo through a Craigslist ad can certainly be appealing. Many of these ads are listed as “Free Tattoo” or “Cheap Tattoo.” One recent ad showed pictures of admittedly decent black and white ink, with a claim that the artist could do “any tattoo” for $50.00.

The first thing that should concern anyone following a Craigslist ad for a tattoo should be the artist’s knowledge of cleanliness and sterilization procedures. A person who bought a tattoo kit from an eBay auction and is anxious to give it a try probably hasn’t been properly trained on cross-contamination, bacteria and blood-borne pathogens. Reading an article on the Internet obviously isn’t enough to keep you safe.

The second concern, and this is obviously secondary to health issues, is the quality of the tattoo. Your tattoo is permanent. Do you really want to be a guinea-pig for someone who is just learning and not under the proper supervision of a tattoo artist?

That is not to say that all Craigslist ads for tattoos should be avoided. I recently bartered my old digital camera for a new tattoo, but the tattoo was done by a professional artist at his shop. I researched his work and felt comfortable with his knowledge and abilities before I agreed to the transaction.

Like in all things, if something seems to be good to be true, it probably is. We’ve all seen the sign at the local tattoo places - Good tattoos ain’t cheap, and cheap tattoos ain’t good. Exercise caution when looking for a tattoo, do your research, and don’t substitute cost for safety.

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Watching CSI

Like them or hate them, tattoos in Kanji or Chinese characters are still a popular trend among non-Asian tattoo aficionados. There is a whole lot of trust that goes in to having someone tattoo a character whose meaning you gleaned off of the Internet or perhaps off of some blurry printout on the wall of the tattoo studio. And for every trusting person out there, there’s someone who is willing to take advantage.

Zug.com is an admittedly hilarious humor website that described a cruel prank played by one of Zug’s contributors on his coworker. The coworker noticed that many people, including his obviously caucasian coworker, had a Chinese character for a tattoo. In his own words:

So I got an idea. I started by talking to the delivery guy from the Chinese take-out near my office. I made up a few fake Chinese phrases from words I saw in a Chinese newspaper, and started throwing them out at him. Now, I have no idea how to speak Chinese. I couldn’t figure out how to pronounce the stuff I had, or how to make sentences out of it, or what dialect it was, but none of that really mattered. What mattered was having the proper Charlie Chan accent and loud, confident delivery.

Eventually his coworkers believed that he spoke some Chinese. And then he began working on the target of his prank.

He greeted his tattooed coworker in his fake Chinese dialect. As he guessed, she didn’t understand a word he said.

You don’t speak Chinese?” I ask.

So I launch into the questions: what made her decide on a Chinese symbol, who was the artist, were they Chinese, everything except what the symbol stood for. She stammers through the answers, which boil down to no real reason for the Chinese, no real interest in Asian culture or language, just got the tat from some white American dude in a shop in Sayerville. Then she launches into an explanation of what it means: inner peace or some nonsense.

And then, the punchline:

“No,” he tells her, “it says ‘hao fu,’ which means bean curd.”

To really finesse the prank, he had even doctored up a Chinese take-out menu to include her “bean curd” character.

A cruel joke? Surely. The coworker got upset, cried, and was understandably quite angry. The coworkers unwittingly played a role in the prank as they assured her that he did appear to speak Chinese quite well. Eventually his guilt got the best of him and the truth came out.

Did that stop the folks at Zug.com from taking the prank another step further? Of course not. They dedicated an entire website to providing fake tattoo flash for unsuspecting Internet surfers.

Fake Free Kanji Flash Site

While I laughed a bit when I read the article, I don’t condone anything that Zug.com did. However, there is an important lesson to learn here: anyone getting any Chinese or Kanji tattoo should check their sources if Chinese or Japanese is not their native language. There are people out there who think that your permanent “Bean Curd” tattoo is good for their momentary laugh.

For the record, your author has a Kanji tattoo which she hopes means “Soulmate.”

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Who doesn’t love Vans?

According to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner (UK), Easy Computers Limited ran an April Fool’s Day website campaign offering £5,000 for anyone who would be willing to have the company’s Laptops Direct brand tattooed onto their foreheads. They weren’t prepared for the response they received from customers who were willing to turn their bodies into billboards.

Managing director Nick Glynne said: “We didn’t expect anyone to take it seriously, but hilariously – and worryingly – we had over 100 replies from customers wanting to be branded with our logo!”

The spoof video advertising the prank quickly became one of the UK’s most watched videos. You can see it here:

The video is quite well done, and gives no hint of illegitimacy, which may be why the response was so great. That, and the amounts at stake were apparently high enough to be quite tempting to some.

The fake advertisement offered people £5,000 to have the logo tattooed on their forehead, £1,000 for a tattoo on arms or legs and £500 for a tattoo on shoulders or back.

A “press release” quoted Mr Glynne saying: “It is a competitive market out there and it’s getting harder and more expensive to find creative ways of promoting our brand.

“One customer actually drove 80 miles to our Huddersfield headquarters demanding £5,000 to have his forehead tattooed there and then!”

£5,000 is a lot of money. But a forehead tattoo is forever.

Readers - can you put an ad price on your own forehead? What about a leg or an arm or something that’s more concealable?

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Gwen. ‘Nuff Said.