A New York City real estate company has offered employees a 15% pay raise if they get a tattoo of its logo on their bodies. So far, 40 of the 800 employees took the deal and got a permanent Rapid Realty tattoo.

People usually get tattoos to show off their personality, but for the employees of Rapid Realty getting inked was simply a quick and sure way to get a 15% permanent bonus. Company owner Anthony Lolli has been more than happy to pay for tattooing fees, but doesn’t take credit for the idea. Surprisingly enough, it all started when one of his employees decided to do it for free. “He calls me up,” Lolli said “‘Hey Anthony, I’m getting the logo on me.’ I show up at the shop and I’m like ‘this is cool, how can I repay you?’” And it all pretty much snowballed from there, and now 40 of his 800 workers have the Rapid Realty logo inked somewhere on their bodies. There are no restrictions regarding the size and location of the tattoo, and that got people interested. For example, Brooke Koropatnick got hers behind the ear and says: “I had a paycheck coming in what was a substantial amount of money different, so it was nice.” Stephanie Barry went under the needle two weeks ago and got a nice bonus for every successful transaction. “I was like, why am I throwing my money away when I could give myself from a $25,000 to $40,000 for the same amount of work?” Barry told reporters.

But some of Anthony Lolli’s workers say money wasn’t the only reason they decided to get tattooed. “I think it’s a good opportunity to show commitment to a company that makes going to work fun every day,” Robert Trezza told CBS New York, while Joseph Tighe said “My wife was a little concerned but I said, you know what, it was the best commitment I could think of.” Rapid Realty’s owner hasn’t yet gotten tattooed himself, but says he plans to do it “eventually”. He recently posted a photo of his loyal employees in front of a tattoo shop, and wrote: “Talk about marketing – they’re walking billboards!”

Photo: Rapid Realty

While such extreme actions could ensure a loyal workforce and cut advertising costs, a lot of people say they wouldn’t get a tattoo of their company regardless of the raise. Would you do it?