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The ultimate billboard.
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by mchawk | July 10, 2008 at 01:57 pm
619 views | 20 Recommendations | 4 comments
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Amid some people's fears that Advertising is reaching into every part of our lives, it was only a matter of time before the Advertising Industry got inside our pants, turning body-art into body-marketing.
New Zealander James Stewart is taking guerrilla marketing to a new level this summer by selling tattoos as advertising space on his leg in a bid to raise NZ$1m (£384,000).
Stewart, a 24-year-old geology graduate, is promoting a website for local artists and will sell tattoos for NZ$500 per square centimetre.
His left leg offers 2,000 square centimetres of ad space in total and he has already confirmed the first tattoo will be a 10 x 7cm image of a seated fairy on a striped background.
Sponsors can choose any artwork from the art community website ArtKlick.co.nz, which will be adapted into one of the tattoos. Stewart said he would also pay each artist at least NZ$1,000 for using their design.
His idea is a rather more permanent interpretation of the Million Dollar Homepage, the one-page advertising site which caused an internet sensation when it launched in late 2005. It was conceived by then-student Alex Tew, who made $1m (£507,000) selling a million pixels at $1 each.
Stewart's plan might be slightly less visible for much of the year, but he has said he will wear shorts to show off the sponsored tattoos whenever possible.
The entrepreneur has a long shopping list for his NZ$1m haul. As well as donating NZ$50,000 to ArtKlick and NZ$50,000 to charity, Stewart plans to start two new web businesses, overhaul his website and hire new staff
Stewart is clearly becoming something of a celebrity - as his website will attest - so, if you're hoping to catch a piece of this prime advertising real-estate, you'd better move quickly.
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mchawk
Maidenhead, United Kingdom
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 16:00 on July 10th, 2008
Bodies are the new homepages. Good stuff.
at 19:55 on July 10th, 2008
wow...... I'm speechless....
at 23:37 on July 10th, 2008
mchawk, I like this story. It's good stuff.
If I remembered correctly, someone auctioned their shaved head for an advertisment tattoo. Permanently!
at 22:07 on July 11th, 2008
Hey mchawk,
Thanks so much for the mention and positive review - made my day :)
I have also just been approached for articles in a Greek marketing magazine and a Spanish newspaper which is really exciting - I truly didn't think things would escalate this quickly (Thinking of the idea on Saturday morning (5/7/08) and doing the media release on Wednesday morning.)
It has been fun, and a fast learning curve with how to deal with media - I think radio interviews are the hardest!
Some people seem to think I am doing it to make money but it is more of a stunt to get members on my new website ArtKlick.co.nz and to promote New Zealand art to the world.
I will pay any member whose artwork I use $1,000 (NZD) so it is a great incentive. I have already had 15 new members and am getting great support from local art communities and website owners.
I will be making a new YouTube vid this weekend and releasing it to promote that I am teaming up with one of my major inspirations Dylan Bland from successful online auction site Zillion to sell the first tattoo worth $35,000.
If interested please subscribe to the RSS on the Million Dollar Leg Project blog (new website to be built!) and I can keep you up to date with the latest developments - this will take a while!
Thanks again, any comments, ideas or feedback are always appreciated and replyed to!
James Stewart