As Heard: How To Get A City To Fix A Pothole

Every city has them. Some have more than others. Some cities are actually good at getting them fixed. Others, not so much. Take Manchester, England for example. They are so bad there that a certain half-mile long road has as many as 70 potholes. And they are apparently causing problems.

One man who says a friend got hurt after riding his bicycle into one of them has launched a campaign to have them fixed. Here’s the thing. No one knows who he actually is aside from the moniker he goes by, Wanksy.

Armed with a stick of pavement chalk, just like the ones the kids use in the driveway, Wanksy goes out, presumably under the cover of night and draws a penis around every pothole he can find. The intended result has been nothing short of stellar.

Offending the sensibilities of the Manchester residents, the epic penis artwork has forced city workers to get out and fill many of the problematic potholes. All within the first 48 hours of the first pavement penis. Even more were patched and filled over the following week proving the Brits don’t dick around with childish drawings of manly steaks.

Naturally, there are those in the political arena of Manchester who are having an issue with cartoony peckers. “Every penny that we have to spend cleaning off this graffiti, is a penny less we have to actually repairing the potholes.” The unnamed city council member said. Considering some of the potholes have been around for years, it makes one wonder just where all the budgeted money in fixing the problem in the first place went.

Keep in mind, Wanksy doesn’t draw the asphalt phallus with spray paint. He uses chalk. So in reality, there is nothing to clean up. One good rainy day and all the roadway junk goes away.

So you know, Wanksy has a following. Some 15,000 people (as of this writing) are fans on his Facebook page. Below, a bit of his work. (Photo courtesey: fastcodesign.com)

Behold, the power of the penis.

Does your city have the same problem? Memphis sure does. How about some enterprising artist(s) with some balls about them make a run at identifying our road holes with some crafty man-sausage artwork to highlight the problem? Think you have what it takes to get the job done? Get out there and help the city find their holes with a large, adolescent penis. Remember, USE CHALK. Nothing permanent.