UK Students Pay Off College Debt With Face Paint Partnerships
Cambridge college students, Ross Harper and Ed Moyse, created BuyMyFace.com as a wacky idea that they thought may help pay off their student debt. Since the start of their project in October 2011, the boys have been painting their faces for major news outlets, and have been sent skiing, skydiving, rappelling, ice swimming and go-karting by their sponsors. So far, they have raised over £31,000 towards their goal in less than six months.
The concept behind BuyMyFace.com is simple – companies purchase a date from an online calendar (featured on the website), they upload a logo and a hyperlink, and on that day, Ross and Ed transform their faces into an advertisement, posting pictures on their homepage, which are aimed at going viral. They say thousands of people visit BuyMyFace.com every day.
"We're absolutely thrilled with the success of our idea, said Ed Moyse. "The novelty is that the adverts are on our faces. The reality is that we divert our heavy traffic onto our clients, and in doing so, boost brand awareness and SEO."
Having purchased ten days of advertising with BuyMyFace.com in December, Ernst & Young will now exclusively sponsor the website they say. This entitles the consultancy firm to a number of days advertising with the BuyMyFace boys. Having already had Ross & Ed rappell from the 9th floor window of Ernst & Young's London office, the expanded partnership they say will facilitate future collaborations between the company and buymyface.com.
"BuyMyFace.com is a unique way for Ernst and Young to engage with our target student audience," said Jane Robinson, Recruitment Marketing, Ernst & Young. "We have worked on several campaigns over the last couple of months and Ross and Ed have suggested innovate ways to gain greater exposure. Ross and Ed really capture the entrepreneurial spirit and are making a huge success out of their idea."
Next up for the boys? They are planning to franchise their idea to students and graduates across the world with the website displaying specific content between countries.
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