US Olympian Auctioning Ad Space On Shoulder
BOISE, Idaho (CBS Denver) – A U.S. Olympic runner is selling advertising on his left shoulder as he attempts to bring home the gold.
Whoever wins the eBay auction that Nick Symmonds has set up for advertising on his left shoulder, the Olympic runner has promised to wear a temporary tattoo of a company's Twitter handle throughout the 2012 season, highlighted by the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Since the auction began Wednesday, there have been 50 bids placed on the prime left-shoulder advertising space. As of Friday morning, the price was listed at $1,850.
"Should the winner of this auction be a corporation, I will wear its Twitter name on my left shoulder when allowed to do so by governing bodies and, after reviewing the quality of the corporation's products, endorse them entirely provided my endorsement does not conflict with any of my current sponsors," Symmonds wrote for the auction's summary.
The auction comes as part of the track star's battle against USA Track and Field's prohibition of sponsorships in the Olympics or any Olympic-sanctioned events. In the past, he has said that the restrictions against corporate sponsorships and logos remain the sport's biggest problem.
The winner of the auction could be in for quite a deal with there being six events on Symmonds' schedule, the first of which starts in February. That's not including the U.S. Olympic Trials in late June or the Summer Olympics in early September. Symmonds, who qualified and competed in the 2008 Olympics in the men's 800m competition, is poised to qualify again.
But the Boise native, who is part-owner of a tanning salon in Oregon, has also promised to take the auction winner's advertising to social media.
"Along with this valuable advertising space (4.7 billion viewers during 2008 Olympic Games), I will tweet a message of support for the auction winner on the first of every month during 2012 from my personal Twitter account, @nsymm800, which currently has over 4500 followers," he wrote.
The reserve price for the temporary tattoos is listed at $14.95.
The first event on Symmonds' schedule is the Sydney Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 18.
