Celebrate 'Sailor Jerry,' Who Shaped Future of Tattooing in U.S.

During the Vietnam War years, Honolulu's Hotel Street was the wildest red-light district in America, as sailors, soldiers and Marines en route to the jungles of Southeast Asia lined up outside brothels in the middle of the day and blew their wages at b-girl joints, live sex shows, taxi dance halls and tattoo parlors in that six-block strip in Chinatown as if they had only weeks to live.

Would you get a tattoo if it were free?

Because this weekend, they're gonna be.

As part of some crazy promotion/out of the goodness of their ink-crazed hearts, Sailor Jerry (116-118 S. 13th St., 215-531-6380‎) is holding two free events this Friday and Sunday: a show by the A.K.A.s before they leave for the Vans Warped Tour, and a free-of-charge tattoo day at Philadelphia Eddie's Tattoo (904 Arch St., 215-440-9997).

I don't have any tattoos, and the reason being is that every time I look back on who I was a year ago, I think, "What a fool … I definitely wouldn't trust that person to get a tattoo I'd like for the rest of my life." But this free business is pretty tempting. Are any of you tattoo virgins going to do the deed this weekend?

UPDATE: There is a catch — the tattoo has to be of the band's logo. That's kinda lame … but still, it's free, so kinda cool. More info the band's MySpace.

Art-fused garage punks and issue-oriented rockers The A.K.A.s (Are Everywhere!) are turning their sights onto their homebase of Philadelphia to offer a break from the economic recession by offering a free concert and a free tattoos (lead singer Mike Ski is a very well-respected and well-known tattoo artist).

"One of the things we look forward to most is creative and fun opportunities to combine the visual aesthetics we love with our music," says Ski. "These two events combine so many of our overlapping passions that we are super stoked and anxious!"

As the only area performance before they hit the road all summer long on Vans Warped Tour, The A.K.A.s will be rocking a free outside performance in Philadelphia. The all ages event is the first in a series of performances presented by Sailor Jerry Clothing. Details below:
The A.K.A.s Live Outdoor Performance
Friday, June 12th at 7PM
116-118 S. 13th Street @ Sansom St.
(Outside the Sailor Jerry Store.)
Philadelphia, PA 19107
*FREE, ALL AGES!

A longtime tattoo artist, Ski has inked members of Bayside, Less Than Jake, Silverstein, Bleeding Through, Bring Me The Horizon, Hawthorne Heights, Fall Out Boy, Set Your Goals, Emery, among many others. On June 14th, he will be tattooing the band's logo for free all day.

Sunday, June 14th
Philadelphia Eddie's Tattoo (Chinatown)
904 Arch Street.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
11AM - 6PM
*Must be over 18 with proper ID *
First come first serve!

The A.K.A.s are currently wrapping up production on their follow-up to the acclaimed Everybody Make Some Noise! with Jamie Woolford (of Let Go/The Stereo fame) in the producer's chair.

"We know our strengths well and have always strived to capture it on our recordings," explains Ski. "Jamie's unique ear and personality have managed to successfully showcase the energy and attitude of our live show, while managing to bring out the melody in our madness."

The as-yet-untitled new album will be released Summer 2009.

The Sailor Jerry brand was featured in Brandweek's Brand on the Verge spotlight! Learn more about Quaker City Mercantile's unique approach to marketing the SJ empire, with some help from our CEO, Steve Grasse- read the full article below!

By all traditional tenets, Sailor Jerry Spiced Navy Rum should have been a sinking ship. Since launching in 1999, the tattoo-artist-inspired brand has steered away from the mainstays of the booze business-print, TV and on-premise marketing-and favored a distribution network of mom-and-pop stores.

And when mainstream celebrities such as Jessica Alba or Jack Nicholson showed interest, they hardly got the Von Dutch Treatment: Instead of lauding their brand-ambassadors, Sailor Jerry promptly ridiculed them on its Web site or sent a curt rejection letter.

Don't miss sexy Japanese rocker gals GitoGito Hustler playing at Sailor Jerry's brand-new shop (the real reason to go being the free Sailor Jerry rum being poured).

Rum brand to invest marketing spend in music

Sailor Jerry, the spiced rum brand distributed in the UK by First Drinks Brands, is investing in a new music marketing campaign.

Launching at the end of August, the activity, which includes PR, sponsorship and sampling, is looking to drive sales and awareness of the brand and communicates directly with its core target market of cutting edge 25 to 35-year-olds.

'Our marketing plan will leverage this appeal, placing it at the forefront of rock music and reaching its drinkers by tapping into one of their core interests,' said Geraldine Roche, senior brand manager for Sailor Jerry.