Emily Chan
What lengths would you go to for unlimited train tickets for a whole year? Six people got tattoos of the word “Klimaticket” in exchange for a year of free train travel.
Recently, the Austrian government announced a deal unlike any before. Anyone who was willing to get a tattoo reading “Klimaticket” at select music festivals would be able to ride trains all over Austria for a year, free of charge. “Klimaticket” translates to “climate ticket” and is also the name of the marketing scheme.
The deal was an initiative to promote sustainable tourism. Here’s how it worked. A pop-up tattoo shop welcomed festivalgoers at different events over the summer, and if they got a “Klimaticket” tattoo, they would also receive their travel prize. Only the first three people at each event were eligible for the train pass.
To encourage more people to participate, Austria’s climate minister, Leonore Gewessler, got a temporary tattoo, which read, “Gewessler takes the lead.”
Three individuals at the Electric Love Festival in Salzburg and three at the Frequency Festival decided to go for it. The tattoo stand also offered other designs that people could get inked on their bodies at no cost, although they wouldn’t be receiving the gift of free train travel.
Many of the available designs were related to sustainability, public transportation, and climate change.
Some people were not in support of the campaign, claiming that it was irresponsible and just another way for Gewessler to push her political agenda.
In defense of the initiative, Gewessler responded that the tattoos were only offered during the day, so it was less likely that any festival attendees would make a drunken decision they regretted once sober. Additionally, only those who were over the age of eighteen were allowed to be involved.
The managing director of the company running Klimaticket also pointed out that the six participants all had experience with tattoos before, and it wasn’t as if they were unaware of what they were agreeing to.
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