Branded clothing has become something of a joke. There was a period where it was fashionable for streetkids in London to wear Henri-Lloyd sailing jackets (in Birmingham it was Mustos). These jackets are not cheap; they are quality kit and very expensive. But in fact, slapping a fancy logo on any old tosh ups its value dramatically.
Why do we pay to become walking billboards?
It is possible to buy a wide array of LED message tags which are designed to be added to clothing. Let us hire a decent fashion designer to produce a jacket (or whatever clothing you want, frankly) which incorporates several little message tags at strategic places (say, lapel, collar, a couple at the bottom, one at the back of the neck). All the tags are reprogrammed via your PC, using an ID code unique to each jacket/T-shirt/trousers/thneed.
Now, boot up the PC and log on to biddableclothing.com. Here, enter your ID number, along with details such as where you live, etc. Advertisers can then bid to have their logos on your jacket/thneed. Once you accept their bid, you can plug in your jacket and download your sponsor's message direct. Your choice of sponsor is recorded on the website alongside your jacket's ID number, until you decide to change. After that, every hour you wear the jacket for gets you points, and points mean cold, hard cash.
To prevent cheating, two cheap temperature sensors monitor the temperatures on the outside surface of the jacket and the inside - if the difference is too great (e.g. you left it on the radiator) or too small (you just left it over a chair) and the time doesn't count.
I could have been a millionaire with this one. Instead, I'm sharing it with you people for free. Am I generous or what?-- moomintroll, Mar 23 2005 Blackboard T-shirt http://www.lizzybug...%20and%20Chalk.htmlNot the same, but I sooo want one. [moomintroll, Mar 23 2005] what.
(Thought I'd better get that in first. See? Not only generous, but saving y'all from yourselves)-- moomintroll, Mar 23 2005 what is a rent boy in your neck of the woods then?-- po, Mar 23 2005 A male prostitute. {puts on innocent face} Why do you ask?-- moomintroll, Mar 23 2005 I agree with the sentiment, but as long as companies can get kids to walk around advertising their brand name for free, why would they pay?-- Laimak, Mar 24 2005 Establish a marketplace, and fools will rush in where angels fear to tread. Although whoever does this first will bear the cost, and the big boys will step in and give the jackets away in exchange for the advertising space.
Mark my words. Care to start a pool betting on when this bakes ? (+)-- normzone, Mar 24 2005 To get it started, have models and actors display specific offers along with ID numbers, so that people can go to a website and punch in the ID number and get a free thing. People can then start raising their fees according to how many free offers their ID number gets attached to.-- JesusHChrist, Mar 25 2005 +1 for calling it a thneed. I love the lorax!-- energy guy, Mar 25 2005 But what about when it's 98.6 degrees F outside. How do I get my bonus points when the weather is exactly the same temp as my body temp???-- longdecember79, Mar 25 2005 [moomin] - I like that link. I've added it to my "Word Shirt" idea.-- Detly, Mar 25 2005 The temp thing would be easy to fake and companies wont start this unless they get hard proof that is works. Maybe a better way than ID numbers being hooked up with free offers (because it's hard to remember ID numbers) would be passwords, so a tshirt would say, "enter 'Jeaux Blough' at coke.com for a free can, and whoever owned that password and wore the tshirt would get credit. I guess the password would be a person's publicly traded "name". This idea democratizes endorsement the way Motley Fool tries to democratize stock ownership. Big plus [moom]. Strombolli sized croissant from me.-- JesusHChrist, Mar 25 2005 Would you be able to earn money around the clock? A person could sleep alone in their t-shirt and still be earning money.-- nimchimpsky, May 29 2005 random, halfbakery