Human Billboard and Radio Laughingstock Relives Humiliation in Mugshot
When a deejay offered six figures for a forehead tattoo, David Jonathan Winkelman did it—and then everyone laughed at him and said it was a joke. Now he has to relive the humiliation with a mugshot gone viral.
The Smoking Gun explains the Davenport, Iowa resident's terrible predicament:
Winkelman became a human billboard for the radio station KORB in late-2000 after a disc jockey offered listeners a six-figure payout if they tattooed the FM station's call letters and logo on their forehead. Winkelman and his stepson, Richard Goddard, went to a local tattoo parlor and each emerged with forehead ink promoting "93 Rock," the "Quad City Rocker."
Of course, when the men came calling for the cash, station brass explained that the offer was a practical joke, just a wacky radio stunt. Winkelman and his relative sued, claiming that the station sought to have listeners permanently marked so that they "could be publicly scorned and ridiculed for their greed and lack of common good sense."
Both complaints were eventually dismissed. KORB has since switched to an "adult contemporary" format and has changed its call letters to KQCS, or "Star 93.5: Today's Best Variety." Arrested last week for failing to appear in court over a misdemeanor charge for operating a motor vehicle without the owner's consent, Winkelman's awkward mug shot reawakened his decade-old humiliation of yore. (Not that he doesn't live that humiliation every single day of his life. But everything is worse on the internet, isn't it?)
Moral of the Story: If you have an embarrassing forehead tattoo, do everything in your power to stay out of legal trouble, lest your mug shot become a fleeting internet meme. Also, classic rock deejays in rural fiefdoms are the worst. [TSG]