Japan’s Latest Trend: Skinvertising

Ad agency pays women up to $121 a day to slap stickers on their thighs

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Would you place an ad here?

While human billboards are nothing new in the realm of advertising, the latest twist on the eye-catching trend involves placing promotional messages on women’s thighs.

Playing up the maxim “sex sells,” public relations firm Wit Inc. enlisted 3,000 Japanese women to stroll around with stickers positioned provocatively on the mid-thigh, the Guardian reports. Why the thigh? CEO of the ad agency Hidenori Atsumi shamelessly explained to the Guardian that it’s a part of the body where men are eager to look and women don’t mind exposing.

The female candidate must be over 18, snap at least two images of themselves in two separate locales to post online as well as the seemingly antiquated request of having at least 20 friends on social networking sites. The firm recommends that its human billboards wear knee-high socks and miniskirts to place emphasis on the ad.

(MORE: Advertising’s Next Big Thing: Walking Product Placements)

The campaign launched earlier this year and has so far included marketing efforts for the movie Ted as well as a music promotion for the band Green Day.

In Tokyo, ad space is no cheap venture. As Quartz points out, total spending on outdoor advertising in Japan was $2.99 billion in 2012. In an overcrowded city with a population of more than 13 million, perhaps humans are the better real estate investment.

MORE: The Human Billboard