Pi-Consulting

Tattoos are forever. That’s the point, isn’t it? A permanent emotional commitment to that dragon or death’s head on your bicep, that pouting cutie or crucifix splayed across your shoulders? Or having the name of The One indelibly and romantically tattooed on your wrist – like, forever? Ah, but what happens when he/she turns out NOT to be The One, after all? Better call Dr. Tattoff, a growing chain of tattoo parlors in reverse, where they erase your past ink mistakes with laser technology. Most of the clientele you’ll find there are young women aged 25-35, proving that it is indeed a lady’s prerogative to change her mind. Ironically, the growing realization that you can get rid of the things seems actually to be boosting the demand for tattoos among both sexes. The price tag can be an obstacle, at $39 per square inch per laser treatment, way more than you pay to have the image put there in the first place. And the experience is uncomfortable. Strangely, however, some of the demand for tattoo removal is so that people can clear the space and get inked all over again. Source: New York Times, Pi.

British author Neil Boorman was worried that branded goods were eating his brain. “I realized I wasn’t buying clothes, gadgets, even food for the functions they performed. I bought them for the way they made me feel”. So he gave up buying anything with a brand-name on it for a year. He found it surprisingly difficult, buying food at weekly produce markets (”You have to plan ahead”), and getting household cleaning products at janitorial supply stores. Technology and entertainment were a problem, since almost nothing came without a brand identity, so he spent a year without TV or DVDs. On the plus-side, he made friends with his local butcher and the fishmonger, whom he now “knows by name”. A surprising by-product of the experience: he lost fifteen pounds in weight, since there were no non-branded equivalents of processed foods and ready-to-eat meals. Source: BBC News, Pi.

Pi Market Research Staff and Pi Consulting wishes every one a Safe and Prosperous New Year!