New Form of Advertising: Body Tattoos

It has been said that the best form of advertising is word-of-mouth. However, that theory has actually been proven true in recent years because of a new industry that is taking shape. First, it started with one person, and then another, and soon several other people were actually using their bodies as advertising machines. Using your body for advertising can be a good way not only to make some serious cash, but is it worth it for the business that’s getting their logo or brand-name tattooed? Furthermore, is it really profitable for the person who is asking companies to use them for advertising?

The first person to offer his body as an advertising venue was Joe Tamargo. In 2005 he thought of the idea to allow companies to use his body as an advertising method, and in exchange for this service the company would have to pay him so much per tattoo. A couple examples of the tattoos that he got on his body in 2005 was for pilldaddy.com and a “Save Martha” tattoo for savemartha.com. Those organizations both paid him $500 so that was about $1000 that he pulled in just for getting tattoos on his arm. In 2007, though, he has branded the internet companies Digital Point, Shoemoney, and
Grownupgeek.com on his body.

There are a couple questions surrounding the debate about getting your body tattooed in exchange for providing advertising for companies, though. The first question and dilemma would be for the person actually getting the tattoo. How long would the tattoo need to be on and how much would you get paid? For example, if a company was to pay $500 for having their company’s logo or website name branded and tattooed on your arm for 2 years, then $500 would simply not be enough. Furthermore, the prices that are being paid for this advertising service is like a one-time payment, which provides no ongoing revenue or cash flow for the person getting the tattoo in the first place. Of course, the advertising body could always charge so much money per month, per quarter, or per year in order to have a tattoo on his body to keep up the cash flow.

But for companies: is using these types of advertising services really worth it and will the service pay off in the end? Joe Tamargo lived in New York so chances are that he was seen by a lot of people in the city. For pilldaddy.com and savemartha.com it would be profitable because people would actually see the tattoos. However, it seems as though selling your body for advertising space would only work if you live in a large city with a lot of traffic and more chances for the population to see the companies’ brands and logos you are advertising for. On the other hand, if companies want to get their brand known throughout the country in all different types of communities and small towns then this may be the way to go no matter where the person is located who is advertising for you.

All in all, though, there’s no doubt that selling your body for advertising causes is taking hold of people throughout the United States. The whole industry started with Joe Tamargo, but odds are that there will be a whole slew of people in the next few years doing the exact same thing! Just imagine: a world filled not with advertising on billboards, but advertising on bodies!

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