Have you ever been tempted to get a tattoo? No? Not even if it helped save lives? In Germany, a non-profit organization called Junge Helden and advertising agency McCann are working together to find an innovative way to promote organ donation: free geometric tattoos.
A symbol of love
The tattoo, called #OPTINK, is a minimalist illustration that at first glance just looks like an elegant geometric design. In reality, the two halves of the circle come together to form the letters “O” and “D”, Organ Donor. The drawing represents the importance of giving a part of yourself to someone you don't know, creating an indissoluble bond between donor and recipient.
Berlin-based artist Gara has created a design adaptable to several tattoo studios across the country. Junge Helden then posted the template on his website, so that anyone in Germany can print it out and take it to a tattoo artist to have the tattoo done for free. The costs will in fact be reimbursed in full to the tattoo artist.
According to the site LBB Online, over 100 tattoos have been done since the campaign began. A small start that already has the potential to save 70 lives.
A still opaque context
In Germany there are around 10.000 patients still waiting for a transplant, and the debate on the introduction of an "opt-out" law (in which everyone is automatically a donor, unless they explicitly opt out) is still open.
In 2021, the organ donation rate was 11,5 donors per million inhabitants, a much lower value than in other European countries. This makes it even more important to find innovative ways to raise awareness of organ donation and facilitate donor identification.
Is a tattoo the right way?
Junge Helden and McCann's initiative aims to get the message across to the younger sections of the population. A strategy that could inspire other similar campaigns in other countries, helping to spread the culture of organ donation and saving thousands of lives around the world.
What do you think of this attempt to transform altruism into "fashion"? Can a geometric tattoo make a difference?
