Belly ad space?
Belly ad space?
ST. LOUIS (AP) - If the human body is the last frontier for advertising space, then St. Louis resident Asia Francis is helping chart new territory - the big, pregnant belly.
Francis, 21, auctioned off the advertising rights to her pregnancy on eBay. The winning bid of $1,000 went to a California Internet company, giving it exclusive rights to temporarily tattoo its brand-name on Francis's belly and broadcast the birth of her daughter live on the Internet. The baby is due any day.
The concept of a human billboard is hardly new.
Twenty-one year old Andrew Fischer of Omaha, Neb., earned more than $37,000 last year by bearing a corporate logo on his forehead for a month. Michele Hutchison of Lanhorne, Pa., auctioned ad rights for her baby's clothing on eBay last year, seeking $1,000 for a months' lease.
For big companies, the idea is simple. Do something outrageous or strange, grab some media attention and cut through the clutter of advertising messages that bombards consumers.
"It's a well-held theory in the advertising industry that the average person on the street receives up to 3,000 branded messages a day," said Floyd Hayes, whose New York advertising firm, Cunning Communications, specializes in media stunts.
The pregnant belly is prime real estate for auction because its likely to get people talking, Hayes said. "If they were to buy the free coverage they will receive for this, it would cost them many times more the fee they paid the person," he said.
Belly ad space?
Maybe the idea's taking off? I recall a guy asking $12,000 for a permanent tattoed advertising space on his leg, but the one which actually happened last year was:
UPI, June 7, 2005: Woman wants to bust into advertising
A U.S. woman attending college in England is auctioning advertising space on her breasts to offset the cost of attending a music festival.
Cat Camp, 25, has the offer posted on the eBay Internet auction site, and told The Sun newspaper she has already attracted bids from an office furniture company, several Web sites and even from a man who wants to propose to his girlfriend.
Camp is graduating from photography studies at Manchester Metropolitan University this year, and said like most other students, "I obviously have no money."
But she's determined to go to the Glastonbury music festival with her boyfriend, and saw the ad revenue as the way to fund it.
Her boyfriend is also auctioning his chest space, and has only received one bid from a garden center, the newspaper said.... and http://www.ananova.com/images/web/294700.jpg was presumably good publicity for her.
UPI, June 7, 2005: Woman wants to bust into advertising
A U.S. woman attending college in England is auctioning advertising space on her breasts to offset the cost of attending a music festival.
Cat Camp, 25, has the offer posted on the eBay Internet auction site, and told The Sun newspaper she has already attracted bids from an office furniture company, several Web sites and even from a man who wants to propose to his girlfriend.
Camp is graduating from photography studies at Manchester Metropolitan University this year, and said like most other students, "I obviously have no money."
But she's determined to go to the Glastonbury music festival with her boyfriend, and saw the ad revenue as the way to fund it.
Her boyfriend is also auctioning his chest space, and has only received one bid from a garden center, the newspaper said.... and http://www.ananova.com/images/web/294700.jpg was presumably good publicity for her.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.