DailyDirt: Everything Old Is New Again? Human Billboards...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Tue, Apr 2nd 2013 5:00pm — Michael Ho

It's been a while since the dotcom boom days when human billboard tattoos were all the rage. Getting a tattoo is usually not considered a prudent decision, but it does attract attention... and that's usually what people are trying to get with tattoos. Maybe tattoo advertising is making a comeback, or maybe it's just as permanent as the ink in people's skin. Just make sure if you're getting a tattoo for money, that you really like your corporate sponsors.

Myron Robinson really likes Netflix, so he got its logo tattooed on his stomach. He didn't even know that he'd get a free year's worth of Netflix, so it's gotta be true love. [url]
NBA players have a limited time in the spotlight, so they might want to sell some advertising space on their bodies while they can. About 35% of players already have tattoos of some kind, but the NBA doesn't (yet!) have any explicit rules restricting commercial tattoos. [url]
Hostgator Dotcom (aka Billy Gibby) sold space on his face to a bunch of different companies (some that don't exist anymore), and now he wants to finance his tattoo removal by selling more tattoos on his body. Gibby has 24 tattoos on his face that he wants to remove, but maybe he should try selling some other services that don't involve tattoos...? (He's open to legally changing his name again.) [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: advertising, billy gibby, human billboard, myron robinson, tattoo
Companies: hostgator, nba, netflix

6 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2013 @ 5:33pm

do people have to pay back their sponsors if they have their tattoos removed?
For totally defunct companies, removing tattoos is probably not a problem since there's no one to care about the assets of a bankrupt company. But if someone still owns the trademarks to those tattoos... they could track you down and either make you pay up after you remove the tatoos or make you pay up to keep using their registered trademarks!
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Theoden, 2 Apr 2013 @ 6:13pm

Re: do people have to pay back their sponsors if they have their tattoos removed?
Even worse - if their newest lawyers find out that you have the tattoos they could sue for copyright infringement!
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Jake, 2 Apr 2013 @ 6:19pm

I just facepalmed so hard I suspect I may have suffered a head injury.
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btrussell (profile), 3 Apr 2013 @ 2:53am

Re:
Lettuce hope the palm isn't permanent.

People may wonder about hairy-palm face.
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Ed C., 3 Apr 2013 @ 5:13am

Only one free year of netflix? Last I checked, tattoos last more than a year.
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Tom, 14 Jan 2014 @ 10:26am

Tattoo mistakes
I can say from painful experience that anyone considering getting a tattoo should think carefully.

Yesterday I finished my 8th removal session, one of the worst experiences you can imagine, 8 times! And still another few to go.....
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