LOGO DESIGN BLOG   LOGO DESIGN REVIEW

Advertisers are always trying to think of new ways and new places to display company logos. Now there’s a new advertising medium to throw in the mix: people’s bodies.

Remember the 20-year-old Nebraskan who auctioned off his forehead on E-Bay for a month’s worth of advertising space? The winning bid went to SnoreStop, who paid $37,375 to put their logo on the web designer’s face for 30 days, got quite a bargain for all the exposure they received. Consider it this way: a full-page ad for one day in the Wall Street Journal costs more than $23,000. One full-page ad in American Idol: The Magazine costs $45,000.

But here’s an interesting tidbit about a woman who is yet to receive payment for literally branding herself with a company logo.

The logo placement occurred when a 27-year-old woman fell off her skateboard in Manhattan onto a manhole cover that was searing with heat. The hot metal, which is located over a steam pipe, burned the woman just above the buttocks and on her left arm with part of the Consolidated Edison (Con Edison) logo, a New York utility company. The woman said she heard her skin sizzling and saw and ‘O’ and ‘N’ etched in her skin, according to an article on allheadlinenews.com. The scarring is permanent.

The woman has sued Con Edison for negligence, carelessness, recklessness, and culpable conduct. No word yet on how much Con Edison will have to pay for the partial advertisement.

While corporate sponsors continue to creep into new industries, tobacco companies might get snuffed out.

Starting at the end of the month, Formula One racing teams may be going through severe withdrawals. A European Union ban on tobacco sponsorship that comes into effect July 31 means half of the Formula One teams will have to change up their logo and sponsorship themes whenever they race in Europe.

This ban will even affect some well known teams, including Ferrari (famously sponsored by Marlboro), McLaren-Mercedes, Renault and BAR.

This announcement is another kick in the pants for tobacco companies, which are already banned from advertising on TV, billboards and the radio in the U.S. (I’m not sure about the rest of the world). What is interesting is that traditionally, the sports arena has been a haven for many tobacco companies, which have plastered their logos on cars, driving suits, gas cans–you name it. Who knows if the U.S. or other countries will follow suit. Maybe the tobacco industry will be banned from advertising altogether–unless it’s an anti-smoking campaign as mandated by the government.

It’s still not the end of the road for most racing teams, though, because outside Europe they can still race with their sponsors’ colors and paint schemes. Brad Spurgeon from the International Herald Tribune stated today that some teams will simply “replace the tobacco names and logos with other words, puns or images resembling the name or logo.” So when you see the Marlboro colors on Ferrari’s racers, you may not even notice the sponsor name missing.

A team can still have tobacco companies’ taglines on their cars too.

This seems a bit two-faced to me. Since many people who follow the sport already know who the sponsors are, why not make sure taglines and color schemes don’t resemble tobacco companies as well?

Anyone who works in a Detroit skyscraper or flies into Detroit Metropolitan airport may have noticed a new landmark–or rather, roof-mark–as they look down on the city. In preparation for the 2006 Super Bowl, Ford has ordered two gigantic logos for the roof of Ford Field, where the Detroit Lions play. A South-facing logo is already in place, reports the Detroit News, and measures 153 by 316 feet. A North-facing logo will be put in place shortly. The stadium’s vaulted roof is visible from Interstate 75 too, but the main reason Ford is investing in the $175,000 blue ovals is to get publicity from blimp shots during the next Super Bowl.

This makes sense considering a 30-second spot on TV during the Super Bowl costs about $2 million. Using this logic, Ford will have gotten their money’s worth from the logos if the ovals are on camera for just 2.625 seconds. What football game shows only 2.625 seconds worth of an aerial camera view during the entire four-hour game–especially during the Super Bowl?

It seems Ford’s marketing department has scored a homerun, or rather, a touchdown, with this plan. This move only bolsters the point I made a few weeks ago, where I talked about commercialization and advertising invading the sports arena. How long will it be before open stadiums paint a 100 yard-long logo on the grass? Before you know it, the Baltimore Ravens will be running up and down a huge M & T Bank logo for first downs (they play in M & T Bank Stadium).

Instead of mentioning yardage earned, sportscasters will reference the location of the player by using the logo. “Favre scrambles to the last ‘M’ serif for a first down!!”

Logos will continue creeping into sports and any other industry where companies think they can make a buck or two through sponsorship.