US alt-rockers 30 Seconds to Mars have been widely criticised over plans for their upcoming video, for which they have asked fans to get tattoos.

The band posted a message on their website asking for fans to upload clips of themselves getting the lyrics to the upcoming single, ‘Do or Die’ tattooed onto their bodies. The devoted followers are instructed to film themselves saying ‘I Am the Echelon’ – a band slogan -before recording close-up footage of the entire inking process.

30 Seconds to Mars were formed in Los Angeles in 1998 by actor Jared Leto –whose filmography includes Fight Club and Requiem for a Dream – and his brother, Shannon, releasing their first album in 2002. Their fourth album, ‘Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams’ was released in May. ‘Do or Die’ will be its second single.

The band’s video’s have often generated media attention. Their video for the track, ‘From Yesterday’, released in 2006, was the first from an international band to be filmed in the Peoples Republic of China, and was rumoured to be among the most expensive videos ever filmed, while its follow-up, ‘A Beautiful Lie’, was filmed among the polar ice caps, with download profits given to environmental causes.

The tattoo campaign for ‘Do or Die’ has been called, ‘disgusting’ and ‘irresponsible’ by commentators on the bands website, with some calling attention to the fact that a number of the bands fans are ‘impressionable’ young girls.