Body As Billboard: Your Ad Here
Terry Gardner, a legal secretary in California, shaved her head for an advertising campaign by Air New Zealand, which had hired her to display a temporary tattoo. She turned around and showed the message, written in henna on the back of her head: “Need A Change? Head Down to New Zealand.”
Gardner was among 30 of what the airline calls “cranial billboards.” For shaving their noggins and displaying the ad copy for two weeks in November, they received either a round-trip ticket to New Zealand (worth about $1,200) or $777 in cash.
The participants were, in marketing parlance, ideal brand ambassadors: when co-workers or strangers behind them in the grocery store line asked about New Zealand, they could speak enthusiastically right off the top of their heads — so to speak.
A similar marketing campaign in England in January for FeelUnique.com, an online beauty products store, paid 10 men and women to apply temporary tattoos with the company’s Web address on their eyelids and then wink at strangers.
Chosen randomly from more than 6,000 who applied online, participants were paid 100 pounds (about $149) to wink at people 1,000 times, or 10 pence a wink, an allusion to pay-per-view Web advertising.
Photo by FeelUnique.com.
Jaclyn on February 27th, 2009 10:57 am
While that is a very interesting form of advertising…i can’t say that i think i would ever want to shave my head to put a tattoo on wether it was temporary or not not to mention display a logo on my eye lid or somewhere else on my body. maybe if the price that they paid was much more then a mere $777, then i might think about it. :)
cassy on February 27th, 2009 5:30 pm
that is very new and interesting idea,advertising using human body that is unique kind of idea.for me if i do that to my self i think i have to be ready, if the price is right.
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