Corporate logo tattoos and the carnival of signs: Commodification of the body

This research study is an exploratory analysis of the sociological meaning behind the popular culture trend of corporate logo tattoos. In this study I seek to explain and understand the underlying meanings and motivations regarding why some people choose to tattoo their body with a corporate logo. In studying this trend, I discuss the social---history of tattoos, the sociology of the body, the sociology of consumption, branding marketing strategies and the postmodern perspective of commodification and the aestheticization of everyday life. The theoretical background is based upon Adorno and Horkheimer's Culture Industry, Foucault's analysis of power and discourse, Baudrillard's analysis of signs and symbols, and Maffesoli's analysis of postmodern consumer tribes. Qualitative semi-structured interviews of thirteen people with corporate logo tattoos were used to examine the meaning of corporate logo tattoos. Findings suggest that the majority of people who had corporate logo tattoos were motivated by brand loyalty and identification with the brand philosophy or lifestyle. The findings also indicated that a minority of people with corporate logo tattoos did not associate their tattoos with the corporation at all. Instead, their tattoos are representative of today's carnival of signs where the meaning of signs and symbols have entered the simulacrum and are no longer referential to their original signification.