Don’t Take Personal Branding too Far – It Might Hurt You [Human Branding]

  • 0 min read

I talk about personal branding all the time, which is far different than human branding. Human branding is when a living person’s skin is burned with a hot or cold iron, with the intention that the resulting scar is permanent. In the streets of New York city, you will find people that actually do this and select fraternities, spread across the US, brand their pledges during initiation. I pledged a fraternity, but did not partake in this practice (thank god). The picture below depicts the corporate brand Intel being burned into the forearm of a person. Although this may come off as good advertising, people seriously hurt themselves this way and it’s no laughing matter.

Beware: Before you watch the below video, realize that it may just gross you out or make you lose interest in branding in general. In no way does this video express my passion for personal branding or this blog. It is not suitable for watching at work. It’s actually interested to see that this culture of human branding exists in our world, but don’t try this at home!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbsFCRuxUds]

Picture of Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel is the Managing Partner of Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm. He is the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Promote Yourself: The New Rules For Career Success (St. Martin’s Press) and the #1 international bestselling book, Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future (Kaplan Publishing), which combined have been translated into 15 languages.

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

The childhood of the 60s and 70s had its own music: lawn mowers, ice cream trucks, transistor radios, bicycle spokes, and parents calling names into the evening

The childhood of the 60s and 70s had its own music: lawn mowers, ice cream trucks, transistor radios, bicycle spokes, and parents calling names into the evening

The Vessel
People raised in the 60s and 70s didn’t need a notification to know where their friends were — they just followed the sound of bicycles, screen doors, and someone’s mother calling from the porch

People raised in the 60s and 70s didn’t need a notification to know where their friends were — they just followed the sound of bicycles, screen doors, and someone’s mother calling from the porch

The Blog Herald
Neuroscientists studying silence found that noise degrades the brain in ways writers have always felt but never had a word for — and the mechanism is more specific than anyone expected

Neuroscientists studying silence found that noise degrades the brain in ways writers have always felt but never had a word for — and the mechanism is more specific than anyone expected

The Blog Herald
53% of Gen Z say becoming a creator is a viable career and the industry that used to mock that idea is now paying attention

53% of Gen Z say becoming a creator is a viable career and the industry that used to mock that idea is now paying attention

The Blog Herald
A 16-year study of 373 couples found whether they fought in year one made no difference to whether they divorced. What predicted it was something researchers had to watch very carefully to see.

A 16-year study of 373 couples found whether they fought in year one made no difference to whether they divorced. What predicted it was something researchers had to watch very carefully to see.

The Vessel
Edison Research finds podcasts now reach 58% of Americans monthly — which helps explain why Vox’s podcast network was worth acquiring at all

Edison Research finds podcasts now reach 58% of Americans monthly — which helps explain why Vox’s podcast network was worth acquiring at all

The Blog Herald
Load more
CATEGORIES
Explore