Tattoo Artist Says He'd Rather 'S*** On Hands And Clap' Than Offer Customer Black Friday Discount

It's Black Friday, and shoppers are thirsting after a juicy bargain to carry them into the weekend.

But if it's cheap ink you're after, don't go asking David McKinlay, OK?

The 44-year-old is fully-booked today (Friday 26 November) at his Archangel 1608 studio in Glasgow, Scotland, and he did not take kindly to one cheeky customer's request for a discount.

The prospective customer, called Joe, sent a message - littered with spelling mistakes and all in caps - asking to take advantage of any Black Friday discounts this afternoon and 'make some ink magic happen'.

Kennedy News and Media

Joe did not receive the enthusiastic response he had seemingly envisaged though, with David simply replying: "I'd rather s*** in my hands then clap!"

David shared a screengrab of the exchange on Facebook, where he was inundated with supportive messages.

Explaining why he wasn't willing to play ball, dad-of-two David said: "We're artists, not a supermarket or a toy shop trying to get rid of stock. We're not selling carpets or sofas. They were way too enthusiastic about it.

"To 'make the magic happen' we need money. We can't use magic to pay our bills and cover our costs.

"We don't need to do deals. We're good at what we do. We've got months-long waiting lists. Offering discounts cheapens the whole craft of tattooing."

Kennedy News and Media

He added that he subsequently blocked the customer and hopes this message will deter likeminded chancers in the future.

He said: "We've had messages from this person before and they've been told the same thing. We felt it was time to be a bit blunt.

"This person was cheeky and we always match the energy somebody brings in their messages. If someone is rude and abrupt, they're going to get it back.

"I don't think my message was blunt, but I think it's honest. It sums up my feelings on that kind of attitude of people trying to get a discount or something for free. It's bulls***.

"It's another long list of messages that we've had. We have to stop what we're doing to answer these messages so it's frustrating. It wastes our time.

"We're not deliberately setting out to make fun of people but this is a problem every good tattoo studio up and down the country is facing.

"I think it highlights the rubbish we have to go through to be able to do our jobs. Hopefully this deters people from asking for this sort of thing in future."

Topics: UK News, Viral, Black Friday

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey