A Bet (and Tattoo) on an Olympian

By STUART ELLIOTT
Published: July 4, 2012

SOME marketers are spending tens or hundreds of millions of dollars on Olympic sponsorships. Then there is Hanson Dodge Creative, an advertising and design agency in Milwaukee, which spent $11,100 to perch on the shoulder of an Olympic athlete.

Hanson Dodge, which works for clients like Trek bikes and Wilson sporting goods, submitted the winning bid in an auction on eBay in January that was conducted by the runner Nick Symmonds. He was selling the right to affix a Twitter handle to his left shoulder, in the form of a temporary tattoo, that he would wear during the 2012 track and field season, including — if he qualified — the Summer Games in London.