Commentary

Not using your forehead?

Rent it out:

If you happened to be at a Hooter’s in Pittsburgh recently and saw a waitress with a large temporary tattoo on her forehead, you have Alex Fisher to thank for it. Fisher is the brain behind Lease Your Body, a Miami start-up aiming to make a mint by hooking up good-looking people willing to rent out space on their bodies with advertisers in search of a way to get some attention. And Sarah Dee, the Hooter’s waitress, is serving as a one-woman spokeswoman for the company. … Since its launch in March, Lease Your Body has had more than 2,500 people sign up wanting to participate in the program. Each is willing to rent out space on one of six body parts–neck, forehead, upper arm, forearm, hand, stomach or lower back–for rates from $100 up to $5,000, Fisher said. “To get $5,000, there are certain factors,” he said. “Being attractive would help–having an outgoing personality and being in the right place at the right time.”

Stories like this usually generate some hand wringing from folks who say our society is already overrun with ads. Yet the forehead ad isn’t a whole lot different than, say, wearing a Nike hat or t-shirt. And there’s an obvious difference that would seem to make the Nike t-shirt more offensive to the ad weary among usââ?¬â??the guy wearing the Nike shirt not only doesn’t get paid, he actually pays Nike to advertise its brand. Those who follow pro beach volleyball might also be less scandalized. After all, vollyballers often adorn their skin with ads. And one more reason to avoid getting too worked up over this:

Fisher, 23, admitted he has yet to sign any contracts with advertisers. Thus, Dee, who he selected because of her “good attitude,” has been walking around the Steel City advertising for Lease Your Body and not any third-party company.

Whole story here.