We’ve seen tattoos in some crazy places. Don’t ask where or how. This is a family website.
But here’s a place we haven’t seen a tattoo before: on the commode.
We have now, thanks to Celeste Massullo and her business, Toilet Tattoos.
She came up with the idea when redecorating her own bathroom.
"There were only two options," she says, “the old-fashioned, germ-harboring rug and the decorative seat, neither of which seemed relevant to the modern consumer, who is germ-conscious and likes to change décor regularly. I realized toilet décor hadn’t changed in decades.”
The same thought has struck us. But we’re not women of action like Massullo.
She went to work on a third option: reusable, removable stickers for the toilet lid. Designs include shamrocks, ducks, seashells, butterflies, snowmen, and more.
Toilet Tattoos stick via electrostatic energy. When the holidays are over just peel off the snowman and stick on some shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day. Goes well with green beer.
Ohio-based Massullo says the most unusual design she’s ever done was a potty-training tattoo: “I will twinkle if you tinkle.”
For other budding entrepreneurs, Massullo stresses the importance of test-marketing. “After years of learning on my own dime, I’d suggest that if you can test-market, do that. It can save you a lot of time and money.”
It can be as simple as a crafts fair, where people can check out your product.
"You need to remove your emotional attachment to your idea and be realistic about the response you receive," Massullo says. “If the response is very good, move full steam ahead and don’t accept no for an answer.”
Flush with success, Massullo now plans to expand her tattoo line to other furniture pieces. But she’s realistic. As she herself admits, a businessperson has to realize the limitations of any idea: “Don’t try to squeeze a round peg into a square hole.”
Could be painful.
