Saw this in my Twitter feed today from SarahWurrey. Sharpie tattoos for people who aren’t ready for the real thing. The blog post has links to a Flickr set. Cool idea. Read the blog post and be sure to read the comment from Sharpie designer. On a side note, I think it’s impressive Sharpie has people trolling the blogosphere looking for brand mentions.
But this is what you have to think about when promoting a event or stunt. As mentioned in my Forward Podcast interview with Peter Shankman, having the idea is great, but you’ve got to think of everything. Drawing designs on skin with potentially toxic chemicals might not be how you want your brand to be remembered. Hadn’t thought of that? Well, Sharpie has apparently, and you’d be well to start thinking like that if you’re getting into event or stunt PR.
Could it be problematic? Hard to say, but PR people should be in the business of a) avoiding bad press and legal problems b) dealing with bad press and legal problems others have created but not c) creating things that lead to bad press and legal problems. Lesson learned.
Filed under: PR Lessons Learned, Event PR, Public Relations |
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Luke Armour - Digital Marketing and Public Relations Observations, Commentary, Frivolity 
Hey Luke – interesting post. I looked at the original blog, and the only issue I take iwth it is… how do we know this person IS a Sharpie designer.
I hate anonymous commenters.
It would be a very good idea for someone to talk to Sharpie to see if they have an official statement about this.
Bob,
Yeah, I kind of breezed over that, but you’re right. I noticed that too, and what guarantee is there that the commenter works for Sharpie? None. So we have to take that with a grain of salt. The only credibility I can give it is: who the hell else would pretend to be a Sharpie designer and say those things?
As to your last comment…what? Do research? We’re bloggers, Bob, not people who do research. We rant, rave and pass along questionable information.
Actually, I was kind of hoping that the anonymous designer would show up here and leave a comment. However they found out about that other blog post, I’m hoping they find me, too. Also, I’m lazy.
Agreed that Sharpie probably couldn’t have officially promoted doing this themselves due to that little issue of “potentially toxic,” hee hee. But I still think it’s cool! 😉