A Brit drew penises on the road to call attention to potholes

A British artist with the self-styled alias "Wansky" (a nod to the world-renowned street artist Banksy) has been sneaking around Manchester at night for more than four years now, embellishing its streets with his very own trademark: pictures of penises. This is not about detailed anatomical drawings or artistical accomplishment. These look much more like an adolescent boy's scribbles gleefully decorating the school bathroom. The Englishman is pursuing a specific goal, however: his noodle doodles are all drawn around potholes.

“I wanted something that would attract attention to the pothole, and nothing’s better than a giant comedy phallus," said Wanksy, whose day-job is in construction work. "I’ve known guys who have come off motorbikes. I know guys who have been put in hospital from hitting them on the bike. They’ll cause damage to any form of transport you use on the road. And nothing seems to get done until you draw a giant comedy penis around it."

As a matter of fact, his method has been successful: this pothole, which no one had taken care of for eight months, was repaired with the "penis cure" after 48 hours. The same thing happened to a number of other damaged bits of pavement that Wansky took a shot at. The city council is not amused, however: “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?" a council spokesperson stated. "Not only is this vandalism, but it’s also counterproductive. 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!"

Wansky, who — by the way — uses paint that disappears within a couple of weeks, isn't discouraged. To the delight of his more than 27,000 Facebook fans, who jovially follow his work on his page. "I think it’s popular because we’re simply not the only town, city, or country that has a problem with potholes," reckons the Manchester artist. "I think this is, by the looks of things, a worldwide problem. There’s money there to fix the roads — at least it’s taken from us, the taxpayers. But it doesn’t seem to get spent on them enough."

Thus the anonymous artist will continue his nighttime excursions across the asphalt as the taxpayer's avenger, always on the lookout for potholes to adorn. Clever idea ;-)