A man went viral on TikTok after showing viewers his so-called “temporary” tattoo that hadn’t faded yet.
Brandon Wake (@heybrandonwakeup), who lives in San Francisco, Calif., said that he received an Ephemeral tattoo “two full years” ago. The brand engineered tattoo ink supposedly disappears over time.
“Remember a couple of years ago when we had those Ephemeral tattoos that were supposed to last only nine to 12 months? Well, I got one and I’m here to give you an update,” Wake said. Next, he promised to show viewers what his ink now looked like.
“And, remember, at the time, they were telling us they would fully fade between nine and 15 months after you got it,” he said.
But more than 24 months later, his tattoo was still very much visible. Indeed, in the video, viewers see a large deer tattooed onto Wake’s upper thigh.
“Two years. Temporary tattoo,” Wake said sarcastically.
He then showed viewers a close-up of the tattoos “details,” which were very much visible despite its supposed lack of permanence. The fact that the tattoo was still prominent on his body led Wake to suggest that Ephemeral misled customers.
“They scammed us,” he said.
Wake said his primary concern was that he’d now have an “ugly” fading tattoo on his body for longer than he anticipated. “I obviously feel lied to,” he said, in part, because Ephemeral has since closed its studios. As of Saturday morning, Wake’s clip had over 1.6 million views.
The San Francisco Chronicle and Fast Company both reported in November 2022 that many people who received Ephemeral tattoos said the so-called temporary ink was still strongly visible beyond the 15-month mark. In its write-up Fast Company noted that the company stated on its consent forms that “the tattoo may last shorter or longer than its touted 9-to-15-month range.”
@heybrandonwakeup You guys have been waiting for this update! Ephemeral tattoo, 2 years in #ephemeral #ephemeraltattoo #scammeralert #tattoo ♬ original sound – brandon wake 🛫
Since then, though, a number of Ephemeral tattoo customers have taken to social media to blast the company for lying about its disappearing ink.
A handful of people who watched Wake’s video felt similarly bamboozled.
“Mine is still here 2.5 years later,” one person shared. “It’s a chicken on a skateboard.”
Others, meanwhile, offered advice for how Wake could make the best of his situation.
“Honestly it looks good. Just make it permanent,” one person suggested.
“I would just get it permanently outlined and have it done in watercolor,” another added. “The design isn’t bad honestly.”
Update on March 20, 2024: In an interview with the Daily Dot, Ephemeral CEO Jeff Liu said, “With over 20,000 customers to-date, we know we bear a big responsibility to have the safest and most reliable tattoo product possible in the world. We consider any disappointed customer to be a major shortcoming on our part.
“Despite doing our best to educate customers on the number of variables they can experience with Ephemeral tattoos (not unlike permanent tattoos), the ultimate product vision at Ephemeral is to reduce that variability across tattoo healing, ink vibrancy, ink usability and of course, fade duration experiences.
“Ephemeral ink is the only naturally disappearing tattoo ink in the world for a reason. And now with 9 years of ongoing research and development invested, it has gone through major improvement cycles. While it doesn’t change any disappointment past customer experiences may have had, the latest Ephemeral ink iterations on the market have greatly reduced the variability customers can expect.
“It is important for customers to expect more product innovation on the horizon, but they can also trust that Ephemeral’s product claims will continue being transparent, context rich and reflective of the actual data available.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Wake via TikTok comment.