When the going gets tough, the tough get creative. Or so it seems. This past March, after Ocean City, Maryland City Manager Dennis Dare decided that the city’s local tattoo shop, Independent Tattoo wasn’t family oriented enough to advertise on the back of the city’s buses, shop manager Tasha Nilsen and crew decided to take their advertising campaign in another direction.
As a result of an Independent Tattoo customer’s suggestion, Nilsen decided to take the exact same advertisement that the shop had intended to place on the back of the city’s buses, shrink it down to 12 by 18-inch and put it on magnets that can be affixed to any vehicle. Word of the magnet advertising campaign quickly spread amongst friends and clients alike, leading to numerous people sticking a magnet or two on to their vehicles. Now that the popularity and demand has grown, Independent Tattoo is selling the advertising magnets for $20 each. There are no profits from this venture, it’s just all about getting the word out.
I guess City Manager Dennis Dare is probably now thinking that he should have just approved Independent Tattoo’s tasteful advertisement for the back of the city buses. Now instead of the shop’s advertising being limited to a few city buses, the tattoo studio’s ad will no doubt be far more prevalent on the streets of Ocean City.
Ha-Ha. So let this be a lesson to any and all tattoo shops out there who get screwed over one way or another by stupid laws or city officials who hide behind the “family values” cliche – there’s always a way to turn things around to your advantage.
Way to go, Independent Tattoo and best of luck to you.