Tattooing between the gas pumps? A viral Green Bay video just earned a cease and desist

It looked like the most street thing you could do with a tattoo machine: a client in the chair, a rainy night, fluorescent light bouncing off the pumps at a Green Bay Kwik Trip. The clip went viral this week, and it didn’t take long for the county to show up in the comments section, officially.

According to FOX 11, the video was posted on Wednesday, September 30, by Green Bay-based Ink Shrink Tattoo, with a second post showing photos of the “session.”

It was staged

Artist Paige Berg told WBAY that the whole thing started as a creative social media shoot, a collaboration with Rollin’ Arts. The idea was to take tattooing out of the studio and film it in unexpected places. They picked a rainy night at Kwik Trip.

Berg says the video was designed to look real, but no tattooing happened: the machine wasn’t turned on, and she never broke the skin.

The county wasn’t laughing

Brown County Public Health put out a statement on Friday, October 2:

“Whether this was real tattooing or staged for publicity, we want to remind everyone that Wisconsin law and Brown County ordinances do not allow tattooing outside of a properly licensed and regulated establishment.”

The department added that unlicensed tattooing “poses health risks, such as serious infections and the spread of diseases.” WBAY reports Berg also received a cease and desist telling her not to operate her tattoo business at a Kwik Trip.

Berg took it in stride:

“We don’t want this viral trend of now tattoo artists setting up in liminal spaces in dirty or grungy spaces, because I got away with it. So I totally get it.”

She says she’ll keep the tattooing inside the shop, and if she stages anything like it again, “maybe I’ll call them first.”

Mobile ink is real, but it has rules

Taking tattooing out of the studio isn’t just a content idea. Earlier this season we covered Denver’s Testimony Ink rolling a trailer up to a Broncos tailgate. And on October 7, Regional Media News reported that the Rock Falls City Council introduced an ordinance to amend its municipal code to allow mobile tattoo parlors in the city. It still needs council approval before it takes effect.

The difference is licensing. A mobile shop that meets local rules is one thing; a machine plugged in next to pump 4 is another.

Before you chase the “street session” aesthetic

• Check the license. Ask where the artist is licensed to work, and look for it on the wall.
• Watch the setup. Sealed, single-use needles and cartridges, opened in front of you.
• Film the vibe, not the needle. If you want gritty content, shoot the flash, the street, the after-shot. Get the actual tattoo in a clean room.
• Know your local rules. They change from city to city and county to county.