• by Shankar Gupta , October 26, 2006

Before there were brands, there was branding — of livestock. Taking the concept back to its root with a contemporary twist, Josef Mazereeuw has found ad space in the most unlikely of places: on the backs of the animals grazing the Netherlands countryside. Through the site LeaseASheep.org, advertisers looking to reach travelers across the lush fields can, for a few euros per sheep per month, have their logos printed on a special waterproof livestock raincoat (ironically, a one-inch-thick woolen blanket).

The site cleverly sidesteps local regulatory issues. “Provincial regulations forbid the placing of writing and images on fixed items, like a piece of ground or a building,” it states. “We however do not use the ground itself or an object fixed to the ground, like a billboard, and no constructions are being erected.”