EVENT TATTOOS

Many brand experiences have the power to leave a lasting impression, but a new generation of audiences are willing to have a brand leave its imprint for a lifetime. Enter: The event tattoo💘

You love your favorite brand, but do you love your favorite brand enough to tattoo it on your body… forever?

For some event attendees, the answer is a “heck yes!” as they belly up to the tattoo chair and get some fresh ink representing their favorite brands and experiences.

According to Trendhunter, hotel-friendly tattoo pop-ups, and “tattoo travel” are trending, like this experience featuring a partnership between Kimpton Hotels and Tiny Zaps tattoo studio which offers vacationers a more permanent memento from their visit.

Who better to lead the trend in events than Pinterest, where tattoo inspiration is a perennially hot search topic on the platform. As part of its title sponsorship of Cairns Crocodiles (the “Cannes” of Australia), attendees could choose from a menu of designs inspired by trending searches on the platform and get a professional tattoo right on the spot. And here’s Pinterest doing it again at Cannes itself, this time with a seaside-themed “Tattoo Parlour.”

“I’m getting a tattoo at Super Bowl!” said no one sober at the Super Bowl. But this February, Doritos invited all comers to their Snack-Too Parlour where attendees 18 and older could get tortilla-chip-inspired tats for free designed by local artists from Lucky Dagger Tattoo. A vending machine pumped out Doritos Golden Sriracha samples and temporary tattoos for the less adventurous.

Not to be outdone by some spicy chips, spicy wings purveyor Wingstop marked the launch of a new store with an event offering free “spicy” tattoos to anyone who wanted one.

Rolling Loud, the hip-hop music festival, offered attendees free tattoos at its VIP Rolling Loud Tattoo Shop, where, according to the property, the artists inked more than 5,000 tattoos over the course of the festival.

And on the purpose-led side of the industry, San Antonio-based breast cancer survivor clinic Perky invited male breast cancer survivors to an event in San Antonio to get free 3D areola tattoos on places other than their chest because social media has a pesky habit of censoring nipples only if they’re on a woman’s chest. The Third Nipple Campaign ultimately found six men to volunteer and the videos were shared, you guessed it, on social media. Mic. Dropped.

Where are all these permanent tattoos going? In many cases, less conspicuous places, which may, in some part, account for their popularity. According to PopSugar, fingers and inner ears are among today’s most popular places to get tattooed. Allure cites fine script and “charms” (finger tattoos) among top tattoo trends.

Wherever consumers ink their favorite brands or tattooed mementos, we hope the love lasts a lifetime. Or at least until the hangover wears off.

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Catch up on all of this year’s weekly trends here.