For the first time in the history of ever, penis graffiti is being used for a good cause.
An anonymous Bury, England graffiti artist, who goes by the moniker "Wanksy," has spearheaded an effort to get local potholes filled in by outlining them with erect and semi-erect phalluses.
[seealso slug="beautiful-graffiti"]
This bold move was triggered by Wanksy's anger over the number of unfilled potholes in the Bury area. The artist told the Manchester Evening News that several of his cyclist friends had been hospitalized because of bicycle incidents involving potholes.
According to the new street artist, the best way to bring something to everyone's attention is to make it *ahem* stand at attention. "I wanted to attract attention to the potholes and make it memorable," he said. "Nothing seemed to do this better than a giant comedy phallus."
On his Facebook fan page, Wanksy claims that potholes that had been left untouched for almost a year were filled within 48 hours after the carefully-placed genitalia appeared. "Some still remain, it’s not a 100% success rate, but it works."
Naturally, not everyone is quite as confident in this unusual public service. Namely, the Bury Council.
"The actions of this individual are not only stupid but incredibly insulting to local residents," said a council spokesperson in a statement. “Has this person, for just one second, considered how families with young children must feel when they are confronted with these obscene symbols as they walk to school? Not only is this vandalism, but it’s also counter-productive ... Every penny that we have to spend cleaning off this graffiti is a penny less that we have to spend on actually repairing the potholes."
However, Wanksy insists that his asphalt junk is not total defacement, as he uses temporary road paint instead of spray paint. "It does eventually wash off," he tells BBC Newsbeat. "It's not graffiti spray paint. It's gone within a week or two. It's a step up from chalk."
Regardless of who wins out, Wanksy or the Bury council, it's clear that there's still a schlong way — er, LONG way to go before the local roads are up to snuff.
BONUS: Can you draw the average penis size?