Michelangelo Work Banned From Flashing His ‘David’ In Glasgow Subway Ad
David’s chiseled naked bod is a tad too provocative for modern commuters, officials in charge of advertising in the subway network in Glasgow, Scotland, have determined.
The 16th-century Michelangelo masterpiece—in all its glory, one might add—was poised to star in a campaign by Italian restaurant Barolo, holding a slice of pizza to portray Italian ideals. “It doesn’t get more Italian,” the tagline read.
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The idea was shot down by Global Media Group, the visual communications company overseeing strategic planning and project development for the subway system. Per Barolo’s parent company DRG Group, the firm agreed that the graphic was art but argued it was “still nudity,” forcing the restaurant’s creatives to tweak the visual.
Talking to Hyperallergic, Mario Gizzi, director of the DRG Group, asserts that it’s “not the 1500s anymore, it’s 2023.”
Dave Rebuffed
— Grouse Beater (@Grouse_Beater) May 20, 2023
Barolo, Italian restaurant in Glasgow, was forced to change its subway advert featuring Michelangelo's sculpture. Ad business Global Media Group blocked them because of David’s nudity. The poster showed him holding a slice of pizza: “It doesn’t get more Italian” pic.twitter.com/zBwk65g7fM
The statue makes an appearance as a coveted work of art in the hit lockdown game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Although designed for players ages three and up, the game has kept David’s genitals.
The sudden upheaval over the marble sculpture’s erm, marbles, perplexing. In March, David came under the scrutiny of parents in Tallahassee after the work showed up in the syllabus for sixth-grade art history at a local school, leading to the resignation of its principal.
The DRG Group, pressed to update its poster to meet sensitivity concerns, censored David’s sensitive, rock-hard bits with stickers. However, moderators still found that the coverage wasn’t “big enough,” Nadine Carmichael, the company’s head of sales and marketing, tells the BBC.
Finally, the team settled on just a waist-up view of the figure, which got the officials’ approval.
[via Hyperallergic, The Times, BBC, images via various sources]
