They Own You

[Linden]

This might make an interesting background detail for Dark Conspiracy: Employees get company tattoo in exchange for bonus.

In this context that horrible phrase "passionate about the brand" could have more than one meaning.

[ReHerakhte]

Holy crap! People in the USA have a very different concept of their relationship to their employer than we do here in Australia.
There's a lot of people here who would probably accept such a thing for the money but there's just as many who would tell their employer to "f*ck off".

No amount of money could convince some of us to be marked with the "lord and master's sign", the boss employs you, they don't own you - if you accept the tattoo for a pay-rise you might as well sell yourself into servitude straight up, you are after all letting them brand you like a cow they own.

I can't believe people would accept this sort of treatment although I'm wondering if the real reason they went for the tattoo (so as to get the 15% pay rise) was more due to the poor economy in the US than any "passion" for the brand.

[Linden]

No amount of money could convince some of us to be marked with the "lord and master's sign", the boss employs you, they don't own you - if you accept the tattoo for a pay-rise you might as well sell yourself into servitude straight up, you are after all letting them brand you like a cow they own.

Yes, there's something almost feudal about it.

Anyway, my employer changes its logo so often that if I did it I'd end up with an arm full of dud graphics of cider apples and Hereford bull cows.

[ReHerakhte]

...Anyway, my employer changes its logo so often that if I did it I'd end up with an arm full of dud graphics of cider apples and Hereford bull cows.

Which could be amusing in it's own right but still, I'd be asking for a new pay-rise with every new tattoo!

[Zvezda]

I don't want to get into politics, but I always thought the term "neo-feudalism" would be more precise than "neo-liberalism". This kind of branding has traditionally been used on slaves. Strange that people nowadays tend to do it voluntarily. It reminds me of a discussion I recently had with a friend when trying to explain DC to a non-gamer. It seems that turning humans into terrified, yet ignorant cattle occasionally seems to work.

[Morthrai]

Apart from the branding issue, in DC the people who get tattooed may also be getting an unexpected "bonus" Microchips to give their location (like pets) or to eavesdrop on them..or worse, DarkTek

[Zvezda]

Hell! We have been playing that game too much!
I just thought about putting rfid chips under the employee's skin just for security reasons you know. Key-cards get lost all the time...

[ReHerakhte]

[quote="Zvezda"]Hell! We have been playing that game too much!
I just thought about putting rfid chips under the employee's skin just for security reasons you know. Key-cards get lost all the time...[/quote]

Well... that's already available for some organizations. The technology was being developed a few years back by a UK university. One of the professors had a microchip embedded in his arm and was using it for access to various secure buildings and so on.

[Zvezda]

It is a small step to make the wearing of the harmless chip compulsary.
A player from our group works in a high security facility. One day he forgott his ID Card and everthing so he waited till someone opend the door and walked in. He was neither questioned nor stopped.