Dunlop makes "treadheads" for their guerrilla marketing campaign to reach the younger generations.
''We give them instructions to sit outside the car and exude the vibe of coolness with their shaved head and Dunlop tires,'' said account supervisor Brett Zaccardi of the Boston promotions firm Street Attack, sitting at the wheel of a 2002 silver Lexus with two of the six treadheads recruited by the company in his back seat.
With dark sunglasses perched atop shaved heads, the six treadheads spent the Fourth of July weekend driving around Newbury Street and other high-end neighborhoods in the Lexus and two blue BMW convertibles.
They dress in black, with a tire tread T-shirt that reads, ''What's up with my head."