Canadian e-commerce firm GoldenPalace.com made advertising news recently when it announced that it has once again purchased body advertising to promote its online casino business. Spokespersons for the company hope that the unusual advertisement--a permanent forehead tattoo auctioned off on eBay by body-piercing record-setter Brent Moffatt--will leave a lasting impression with target audiences.

Strange as it seems, body advertising is nothing new to Golden Palace. The online gaming company first placed a tattoo advertisement on the back of Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins during his boxing title match against Felix Trinidad in 2001. The innovative campaign has since snowballed into a marketing phenomenon, and the novelty of it all even inspired swimsuit model Shaune Bagwell to sell "cleavage space" to Golden Palace for about $15,000.

"Human-billboard" advertising has been controversial and unpredictable as a guerilla-marketing tactic. One man who offered the back of his head as a billboard for Web-hosting firm C I Host went "missing" after receiving payment of $7,000. And despite an occasional appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, tattoo advertising has been largely ignored. When marketing promoter Dakkan Abbe made a pitch to place temporary corporate tattoos on pro basketball players, the NBA flatly refused.

Yet for certain companies, tattoo advertising might just make sense. Golden Palace CEO Richard Rowe defends the company's eccentric marketing strategy: "Not only are we a leading Online Casino, but we like to keep abreast of the times using innovative and wacky body tattoo ideas." According to Rowe, tattoo advertising a natural choice for the casino industry: "It is fun, it is new, and it makes people laugh. After all, GoldenPalace.com is in the entertainment business."