Pepsi vs. Coke, Nike vs. Reebok, Mac vs. PC, Chocolate vs. Vanilla, Nikon vs. Canon. These are the eternal conflicts that have affected all our lives at some point. When two equally powerful, and equally satisfying brands are competing for our hard earned money, we often chose one and stick with it. Brand loyalty is very deeply rooted in the human psyche and its spectrum of influences ranges over a lifetime. I’d like to introduce to you, the Nikon loyal.
Here is a collection of Nikon Tattoos from far and near.
I remember I was a Sony whore for a very long time. Every piece of audio video equipment I bought from 1997 until about 2004 was all Sony. Plasma TVs, stereos, DVD players, game consoles, etc. I wont get into all the underlying reasons for my infatuation, but you get the point. I really liked my Sony gear. I was, what some would call a Fanboy.
Now there are varying degrees of Fanboy-ness, but I think we can all agree that the highest level of Fanboy must have a tattoo of their beloved brand or product. These are the unpaid advocates, the preachers, the 9th degree black belt Fanboys. They’d never switch brands, and even if they did, they’d never admit it. Their commitment has passed the point of no return.
I would say I’m a bit of a Nikon Fanboy now, but I kind of have to be. I’ve made a substantial monetary commitment to a proprietary photographic system. As a consumer, part of me wants to believe I’ve made the right choice and that the investment in my hard earned money will pay off because I purchased a superior product. This is natural. But the truth is, as a photographic equipment manufacturer, Canon is just as good, if not better in many respects. And of course there are numerous other brands that produce quality photographic equipment. At the end of the day, it’s how you use the tools you’ve acquired.
Nikon was “flattered” that people would tattoo themselves with their cameras. And by “flattered” they mean, excited over free advertising and publicity.