A Melbourne man is preparing to have a corporate logo permanently tattooed on his body in order to treat his elderly parents to an overseas holiday.
Part-time security guard Grant Burton, 30, will have "Eurail.com" forever etched onto his back on Friday after proposing the bizarre marketing stunt to the Netherlands-based rail provider in December.
"My mum had turned 60 just after my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, and I was out of work at the time," Mr Burton told ninemsn.
"They had always wanted to go overseas together but with six kids could never afford it."
Within hours of emailing the company, Eurail.com was on board.
"We receive sponsor requests every day, but never have we seen such a fun and quite extreme example of fan dedication," spokesperson Chantal Sukel said.
"We strongly feel that it is very altruistic of Grant to make this gesture to his parents … [so we] decided to throw in an extra pass for Grant himself."
They will each receive a ticket to tour Europe, while spending money incentives are also being offered for the number of fans that join Mr Burton's Facebook page.
Mr Burton had a harder time finding a co-operative Melbourne tattoo parlour than he did organising the deal — finally being accepted by Irezumi Ink Tattoo Studio in Elsternwick after receiving little interest from about 250 enquiries.
"Mum and Dad have never been a fan of tattoos," Mr Burton, from Macleod in Melbourne's northeast, admitted.
"But Dad's 78 years old so it's looking like his last chance to experience an overseas holiday.
"Once I sat them down and explained to them what my intentions were, they became quite emotional and threw their support behind me."
The tattoo will feature the company's logo and web address, and measure about 11cm x 15cm.
Front page
National home
RSS Feed