A brother and sister from Perth have honoured their late grandad with matching IRN-BRU tattoos, celebrating his love of the iconic Scottish drink
Devoted IRN-BRU fans descended on Glasgow’s Empire Ink on Saturday, March 21, for the first-ever TAT-BRU parlour, where exclusive free tattoos celebrated the soft drink’s refreshed look and 125th anniversary.
Fans travelled from across Scotland, with some making hundreds of miles just to get inked in tribute to the brand that has been part of their lives for decades. Among them were brother and sister Gemma, 32, and Thomas, 30, Swan from Perth, who made the trip to commemorate their late grandad, Jimmy, a lifelong fan of IRN-BRU.
Jimmy passed away six months ago, just a few weeks shy of his 87th birthday, after a battle with lung cancer. Even in his final days in a hospice, he was never without a can of his favourite soft drink.
The siblings decided to get matching tattoos to honour their grandad’s memory and the role IRN-BRU played in their whole family.
Speaking about the tattoo, Thomas said: “It’s fitting, he definitely would have liked it, he always liked seeing my other tattoos, so I’m sure this would have got his approval. He was a regular can of IRN-BRU man and used to drink it every day.
“He was always the one who would sneak me a can when I was told no, I’d never go to his house without being offered some,” he continued.
“I saw the event on Facebook and sent it to my sister who had spotted it at the same time and immediately replied that she’d already booked 11 am. We were both really close to him, so it’s nice to have this wee memory.”
The TAT-BRU event drew a diverse crowd, with many fans of the popular drink getting their skin permanently tattoo’d for a variety of personal and emotional reasons.
Another punted Steven Prentice, 38, made the 350-mile round trip from Inverness to get a tattoo. As he said: “I love it, it was absolutely worth the long drive down. I’ve got many tattoos and I try to get a tattoo in each place I visit, this is like a wee souvenir from Glasgow.”
Maria Maclennan, 38, a silversmithing lecturer at Edinburgh’s College of Art, added a can design to her impressive collection of tattoos, saying: “I’m a metalsmith and my partner’s an engineer, so we both love a good girder – though these days, it’s my bed that provides me with strong horizontal support.
“Bru was born long before any of our time and it’ll live on after we all leave this mortal coil.”
Over 50 tattoos were given out during the event, featuring a range of designs inspired by the legendary packaging, including the return of the famous “Made in Scotland from Girders” strapline and the iconic girder emblem.
The legendary ‘molten man’’insignia from 1988 was also back, celebrating the brand’s industrial heritage while giving it a modern touch.
Kenny Nicholson, Director of Brand at IRN-BRU said: “For 125 years, IRN-BRU has proudly been Made in Scotland from Girders.
“To celebrate our milestone we’ve brought this iconic slogan back, in an evolved look that typifies our industrial roots and the maverick bravery at the heart of BRU.
“The TAT-BRU parlour showed just how much BRU means to people, through the generations, and now those lucky fans can wear their permanent girders with pride.”
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