"Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian" Dennis Wholey

Today on OS, Lainey has a post about this nuisance. Generally, this spam shows up in the comments area of a post.

The spam comments are usually lists of an array of products. One name that seems to be in most of them is: Ed Hardy; as in Ed Hardy bikinis $16.00, Ed Hardy sunglasses $12.00, etc. I am blazingly unconnected to the world of fashion and prior to OS had never seen this name.

I was intrigued by the name, perhaps because of its seeming familiarity (the unknown Hardy Boy?), and having the time and the expanse of the Internet at my disposal I looked up this, Ed Hardy.

Kids, there is an Ed Hardy. He is Don Ed Hardy, tattoo artist extraordinaire, and as much of victim of the asshat spammers as you and I. In fact, more so; he is being hit financially and artistically as his work is being counterfeited with unchecked abandon.

This man is an accomplished artist whose work has been appropriated by unscrupulous, mainly Chinese, bandits. He paid his dues. He took the less traveled path and earned his fame the hard way. Like many of the writers on this site he labored in obscurity and did so for the love of his art.

Allow me to direct you to a couple of well done newspaper articles that helped me flesh out a story behind the name:

Don Ed Hardy's Tattoos are High Art and Big Business, 9/30/06, SFGate, by Jesse Hamlin. This article will give a picture of the artist.

Ed Hardy Tattoo Art is Booty for Digital Pirates, 11/12/09, New York Times, by Ashlee Vance. This story will give you the facts on the banditry.

Tattooing is another ocean in which I am adrift in an oarless dinghy. However I can see when a guy is getting a bad rap.  I can feel for an artist who is being plagiarized. Now when I see the name, Ed Hardy, I will think about a real person who deserves  better treatment.

By the way, ye pusillanimous pirates, can you at least have the courtesy to hit the rate button while you're in there aplunderin' (as Amanda G said in her comments on Lainey's post).

Here is  a great quote from the Jesse Hamlin piece:

'Tattooing," he says, "gave me a way to be free. Otherwise I was going to be an academic." Don Ed Hardy

Happy shopping!

note: photos pirated from an alleged Ed Hardy website (there are many) & Wikipedia (those are Mr. Hardy'd biceps). Also depicted are the 1958 LSU Tigers and their Chinese Bandit defense - any real bandit who is offended by this picture is invited to drop a comment in this post and you will be responded to appropriately. Hardy Boys pic from hardyboys.uk

Originally posted April 2010. Thanks to Trudge for reposting tips. It's been a busy month in Lake Wobegon, but the Damon ship has been spotted in the Alleghenies with particulars soon to follow.