While most company execs would celebrate a banner year and the launch of a new company by buying a new car or going on vacation, Merrick, president and creative director of Lakonic Partners and Tangible Worldwide, did something a little different: he got a tattoo — of a second head — on his neck.
With business quintupling in 2007 for Lakonic, his interactive creative and production group, and the early-2008 launch of his new lifestyle communication agency, Tangible Worldwide, Merrick decided to commemorate his achievements by adding to an already-extensive collection of body art.
The tattoo is based off the 1980’s industry classic film How to Get Ahead in Advertising, where British copywriter, Denis Dimbleby Bagley, is tormented by a talking boil growing out of his neck. The movie closes with the boil growing to a normal-sized head, squishing Bagley’s original head down to the size of a boil, which promptly is prepped for surgery and removed. With a new head and bravado, he vows to give everyone everything that they want in advertising. Everything will be “bigger — and brighter — and better,” words you will now find on Merrick’s neck along with the post-surgical form of the boil.
For the tattoo, Merrick called upon world-renowned tattoo artist and long-time friend, Patrick Cornolo, who has been given the task of tattooing many of Merrick’s tattoos. “Merrick keeps me very fucking busy. He has an insatiable craving for ink, the weirder the better, and has more ideas than his skin can possibly accommodate,” says Cornolo.
“Regardless of the stigma, I think the little guy is the perfect memento for last year’s surprising success. ‘Bigger — and brighter — and better’ are words I have to live by as we plan to ignite the agencies’ growth and expand into new territories,” says Merrick. “Sure, it’s a bold statement that some will inevitably frown upon, but I’m confident — especially with someone like me at the helm — that the world will see us as an agency legitimately uprooted from convention. If a prospect chooses not to work with us because of something so ridiculous as me celebrating life, so be it. They would be missing the point of why they should hire us in the first place.”
Merrick and Cornolo were joined by a mutual friend and fellow tattoo enthusiast, Jim Armetta, partner of Alter/Chicago — a photography, CGI and digital imaging agency — and a video and photography crew to document the experience. Armetta added, “Only Merrick has the stones to make a statement like this by drilling it into his neck. I’m happy that my crew was there to capture the moment of impact and can’t wait until it starts talking to him.”
The boil is currently healing and unavailable to make a statement.
About Tangible Worldwide
Tangible Worldwide, LLC is an independent lifestyle communications agency headquartered in Chicago, IL. We realize that without passion there is apathy, and no amount of money will overcome that feeling as a consumer or an agency. That is why we only represent brands that represent our team as consumers. As your agency, we will create relationships that are Tangible Worldwide™. See for yourself at www.tangibleworldwide.com.
About Lakonic
Chicago-based Lakonic Partners, Inc. assists creative service agencies from prepitch through end-to-end design and development. Collaborating exclusively with agencies, Lakonic focuses solely on creative and production services. The company has worked with a number of agencies on brands such as: Budweiser, Motorola, Virgin and Unilever. For more information, visit www.lakonic.com.
About Alter
alter was founded ten years ago under the name Alter Image, and defied definition from the beginning: not a creative retouching studio, not a photography studio, but the bastard child of both, fused together with a focus on the final image. Four years ago they engineered new DNA into the studio’s makeup in the form of computer-generated imagery (CGI), but their focus didn’t shift one pixel. They make it all happen at their 10,000 square foot state-of-the-art studio on Chicago’s near west side where their photographers, digital artists, and CGI artists work together to seamlessly make their clients visions a reality. For more information, visit www.thinkalter.com.
About Patrick Cornolo
Patrick Cornolo has been tattooing since 1994 and specializes in one-of-a-kind custom tattoos. Since 1999, Patrick has been working along side L.A. Ink’s Kim Saigh at their studio in Chicago, Cherry Bomb Tattoo. In March of 2008, he will be opening his very own shop, Speakeasy Custom Tattoos, in Wicker Park’s famed Flat Iron building. For more information, visit www.patrickcornolo.com.
