100,000 square foot ad on Gatwick Airport's causes stir

A giant silhouette of a naked pole dancer painted on a field beneath Gatwick Airport's flight path is causing a stir in the British countryside.

The 100,000 square foot (9,300 square meter) advertisement is nearly invisible from the ground but can be seen by airline passengers, Tandridge District Council spokeswoman Giuseppina Valenza said Thursday. She said the ad was painted on the field without proper permission and that the council would take legal action if it was not removed.

Sports Media Gaming Ltd., the company behind the ad, said the council had no grounds for removing it. “I think they're unsure about their own regulations to be honest,” director Stephen Pearson said. “We're not going to remove it all.”

This isn't the first time that the company's ads have appeared near the airport. In 2005, an ad for Lynx deodorant featuring a man fondling two naked women was washed off a nearby field after Unilever PLC decided to pull it, Pearson said.