In America, the tattoo, once a symbol of youthful indiscretion and rebellion, has become an item so ordinary that a college girl’s lower back or an NBA player’s shoulder looks strange without one. What used to be for bikers and rock stars is now for the masses and as an AP story Monday points out, marketers at America’s biggest companies are taking notice of a growing tattoo culture. A new energy drink called Inked admittedly targets the tattoo generation, namely men and women between the ages of 26 and 40, 40% of whom are inked. This tattoo generation not only encompasses those who have tattoos, but those who, according to the story, “want to think of themselves as the tattoo type.” We all know these guys — the guys who don’t boast any tattoos but wear a low-riding cap tilted a bit to the left to make up for it. What the AP failed to mention is the contrapositive of this group: those who do have tattoos but wouldn’t consider themselves part of tattoo culture. Like the girl with a butterfly tattoo on her ankle who would pass up the can of Inked in favor of a Vitamin Water. The pervasiveness of tattoos in the early years of this decade led many tame, ordinary people to flock to the tattoo parlor and do what was once the unthinkable (and what is still the unthinkable for most of the Jewish population). But not only are brands targeting this group with new products, but some companies are actually branding their brand onto the skin of the most daring of tattoo enthusiasts. The tire company Goodyear offers a free set of wheels to anyone who’s willing to tattoo the flying-D logo from its Dunlop brand, and 98 people so far have been willing. If you’re wondering who these people are and why they want the Dunlop logo indelibly carved into their skin, here’s how the Goodyear brand marketing manager described them to the AP: “Some of them are brand loyalists who already own Dunlop tires, while others were tattoo fans who wanted to add to their body art…One returned for his third Dunlop tattoo this year.” Someone must really need tires. There’s even a website that exists called Leaseyourbody.com, that matches up advertisers with nitwits who want to make their body a walking billboard. In August, a Pittsburgh waitress became the company’s first subject when she was contracted to wear a temporary tattoo of the Leaseyourbody.com logo on her forehead. While the saturation of tattoos in America has undoubtedly made them less cool, their potential as ads seems limitless. Tattoos are noticeable, mobile and they last forever.
•AP: Tattoo Ads Make Walking Billboards
•Flumesday.com: Most Regrettable Tattoos
The worst tattoo I ever saw was a script “Mother” enclosed in a heart