One San Francisco artificial intelligence start-up’s out-of-the-box recruiting stunt has left a black mark on its hiring efforts.

LemonLime CEO Jordan Zietz guaranteed instant job interviews to anyone who showed up in the flesh at a company party and got a LemonLime tattoo. Seven people took him up on the offer.

It’s not the first time a business has rewarded people for inking their interest. 

Food and retail brands have offered food for life or other VIP perks to customers with tattoos of logos or mascots. A New York City real estate brokerage firm even offered employees a 15% increase in commission if they got a tattoo of the company logo. 

But it was an unusual −and controversial − tit-for-tat gambit for an employer headhunting job candidates without the promise of a job offer.

‘Being committed to our mission is paramount’

Zietz said he hosted the tattoo-festooned event “to meet exceptional people and find out which one of them is just as crazy as we are.”

“We are bold, we take risks and we do things that haven’t been done before,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Being committed to our mission is paramount.”

One start-up founder wants the world to know she didn’t get a LemonLime tattoo. She says she was flooded with questions after the company posted a photo − without her consent − of her getting inked.

“I got a personal one and I love it,” she said on LinkedIn. “YES, almost everyone else got a LemonLime tattoo. It’s slightly wild.”

‘The job market cannot be this cooked’

The hiring gimmick didn’t go over well. The internet roasted LemonLime for exploiting power dynamics in a challenging job market. 

“The job market cannot be this cooked that people are getting tattoos for an interview,” one person said on LinkedIn.

“That’s crazy and definitely not on my 2026 recruiting bingo card,” another said.

“Demanding that job applicants permanently alter their bodies with a company logo simply to secure an interview,” one person commented. “It is a textbook display of predatory corporate behavior, a gross abuse of power, and a profound violation of professional ethics.”

‘I messed up’

A mea culpa soon followed. “I messed up,” Zietz said in an apology posted on LinkedIn. He declined a USA TODAY request for comment.

“We offered free tattoos and said we’d be happy to interview anyone who got one. What I thought would be a fun, memorable way to meet people was, in reality, reckless, and instead came across as tying a permanent tattoo to job opportunity, which showed poor judgment,” he wrote. “Even though participants chose their own tattoos and no one was asked to get our logo, I should have understood the pressure and power dynamic created by connecting tattoos to hiring.”

Zietz said LemonLime has spoken with everyone who participated and offered to pay for tattoo removals for anyone “facing any delayed regret.” He also clarified that tattoos at the party were not required for job interviews.

“I’m sorry to the people we put in that position, and to everyone who expected better from me,” he said. “There’s no clever explanation here. I got carried away, and I was wrong.”