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CNN Live Sunday
Ab-vertising Debuts With Arena Football Team in Nebraska
Aired April 08, 2001 - 16:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: There is apparently no end to creativity in advertising. First, there were billboards, then billboards on wheels. The 21st century brings us dancing billboards with hips and legs and short skirts. We want talk to Marty Hager of Graphics Plus, that's the ad firm that came up with the idea. He joins us on the phone from Lincoln, Nebraska.
Hi, Marty.
MARTY HAGER, GRAPHICS PLUS: Hello, Donna.
KELLEY: How'd you come up with the idea?
HAGER: Well, our firm handles an af-2 team, an arena football league team, and we were at a game watching the High Voltage dancers, and we noticed they had uniforms that were split, which exposed their midsections and we figured, you know what, I bet we're not only the ones noticing that.
KELLEY: So, how big is this space and how big is the ad that you can actually put on somebody's tummy.
HAGER: Well, the space varies, of course, according to the uniform, and we calculate with the high voltage dancers, there's approximately a three- by eight-inch space that we could apply a removable tattoo to.
KELLEY: We're looking at a picture of it right now, Marty, and so we are seeing on of your first advertisers, a first sponsor was a hairstylist, right, that came in for the advertisement.
HAGER: That's correct. Dove Shannon Salon.
KELLEY: You know what we were looking at, when we zoom in, we can see it, but when you're sitting up in the stands, can the people see who the company is who's advertising.
HAGER: No, that was one thing that we -- that I noticed last night, that you couldn't see it from the stands, but it was never meant to be seen from the stands. With the High Voltage dancers, and they have two teams, they interact with the crowd all night long. They're actually up in the stands. So, we figured the tattoo had to be visible from a minimum of five feet away. KELLEY: So, what you did, too, you were telling me when we chatted earlier, you have a smaller version that you actually handed out to the crowd.
HAGER: That's correct. The dancers themselves were at door and they greeted the fans as they came in, and they handed out a smaller version of what they were wearing.
KELLEY: And you said quite a few people put that on at the game.
HAGER: Quite a few people. There was a great range of people, from kids to adults.
KELLEY: You know, not everybody is thrilled with this idea. The director of Women's Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln feels a little differently. Joy Ritchie says it's another example of how women's bodies are being exploited.
HAGER: Well, you know, we too -- we're concerned with the issue, and one of first things we did was sit down with the dance squad, and said, hey, look, we've got this idea, how do you feel about it? And they were thrilled with it. They said, basically, we know people are looking at us anyway. This doesn't bother us.
KELLEY: And you're actually going to do some -- male cheerleaders are going to have a little equal time there.
HAGER: That's right. We have high hopes of signing up professional wrestlers or maybe even boxers and male cheerleaders, too.
KELLEY: Yes, the NBA came up, apparently, with an idea or somebody at another ad agency and the NBA so far, from some of the research that we pulled up, said it's a no go for them, but some of the NBA players are interested in it.
HAGER: You know, I understood that too. We were kind of keyed in to that about three weeks ago.
KELLEY: Well, tell me how much you're charging. In broad terms, what do you pay the women doing this and how do work that?
HAGER: Well, naturally, we don't pay the women. We contract with the af-2 team or the sports team, and they handle compensating the women.
KELLEY: Do you know what the split is and what you're paying the team then?
HAGER: No, that's something that I really do not want to discuss right now. It's going to be variable on the conditions and how much exposure we expect to get for the sponsor.
KELLEY: You've got pretty high interest in this?
HAGER: Very high interest. We've had nothing but positive response.
KELLEY: You know, we were looking at the tattoo, and I was thinking about the smaller versions that you told me that you hand out to the crowd. How long do these tattoos stay on?
HAGER: Well, if anybody has kids, you know these things can last for week, but if you follow the instructions on the back of the tattoo, a little rubbing alcohol or even baby oil will take them off.
KELLEY: OK, Marty Hager, who is with Graphics Plus with the belly billboards, thanks for chatting with us. Appreciate it.
HAGER: Thank you, Donna.
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