If the phallic graffiti art movement ever becomes a thing and receives official endorsement from the art community, there’s no doubt that Wanksy should be named its leader. This mysterious construction worker and university-qualified artist made the news in 2015 when he started drawing penises around potholes on the streets of Bury and Ramsbottom, two towns in the Greater Manchester area.

The roads in his hometown and its neighboring areas were filled with potholes and the local government showed no interest in fixing the problem. An avid bike rider himself, Wanksy saw many of his friends damage their motorcycles and bicycles as a consequence of the emerging pothole problem. Many of them had sustained serious injuries in these accidents and Wanksy felt he had to do something.

Penis Mightier Than the Sword

Trying to find a solution to the problem in traditional ways reaped no results. Wanksy tried repeatedly to report the potholes using the local government’s website, but every single time the site would malfunction. The lucky few who had managed to submit their reports via the faulty website had to wait for several days to receive an automated response that their message had been received. Although there was a budget to fill the potholes, the local government did absolutely nothing.

For Wanksy, it was time to go into full action mode. He took a can of temporary spray which washes out in about two weeks’ time and set out to draw the attention to the growing problem that was troubling the community. His weapon of choice was – a penis. As he was cycling through town, he would draw a penis around every pothole he came across. The wieners came in all colors, shapes, and sizes; he even used fluorescent spray to make some of the pothole penises glow in the dark.

When asked why he chose to draw penises, Wanksy replied that he had to find something efficient to attract the attention to the problem. He immediately thought of penises: they’re quick and easy to draw, they’re sure to stand out, and – as he then said – “nothing fills holes better” than penises. Intent not to allow anyone to misinterpret his action as an act of vandalism, he opted to use washable paint.

All Wieners Point to Hypocrisy

As his art started gaining traction in the media and across popular social networks, it was only a matter of time before someone would remind the people that they should “think of the children.” To no one’s surprise, it was the local government officials who accused Wanksy of not thinking about how families with young kids must feel when they come across his artworks while going to school.

The hypocrisy of the local officials manifested itself in other ways, too. Failing to acknowledge that Wanksy had used temporary paint, they blamed the “vandal” responsible for the act of being vulgar and counter-productive. As far as the government was concerned, every dime spent on cleaning these phallic symbols off the roads was one dime less that they could invest in fixing the problem.

Where There’s a Penis There’s a Way

Despite all their attempts to draw the attention away from the problem and focus it on the “vandalism” that was taking place, the government officials had to do something to address the issue. The best way to go about this – well, repair those potholes. Soon enough, every pothole marked by Wanksy’s penis graffiti would be fixed within the next 48 hours. Remember, reporting pothole sightings online invariably fell on deaf ears, yet every new penis that popped up on the road would result in an immediate action.

Wanksy’s phallic doodles were now delivering on their original goal at an impressive rate. Although the artist admitted that the success rate was nowhere near the desired 100 percent, he was still very happy to see that his unique form of protest had paid off. Where words failed, wieners delivered, proving once again that penis can indeed be a force of good.