'Appalling taste' bestiality billboard to be removed

A billboard in Sydney, Australia featuring a man about to have sex with a pig will be removed. Pedestrians were confronted with the image that is part of an ad campaign for Foxtel's arts TV channel Studio. Foxtel has apologised and said it will remove the billboard that was "clearly in appalling taste".



A Foxtel spokesperson said: "It was intended to provoke, but is clearly in appalling taste and demonstrates a lapse of judgment by Studio and a failure in the approvals process at Foxtel. "Once senior management at Foxtel became aware of the nature of the image we instructed Studio to remove and replace the billboard."

The spokesperson said this will happen as soon as possible and Foxtel regrets any offence that has been caused. The bestiality image was taken from the controversial UK TV show Black Mirror which will air in June as part of the channel's "Festival of WTF!". It relates to an episode of the program in which a princess is kidnapped and the British PM must commit bestiality on live television in order to save her from being executed.



Studio general manager Chris Keely said that the best art is divisive and provocative. "You may love it, you may hate it, but you'll definitely be talking about it," Mr Keely said. The billboard in Sydney's Kings Cross is the only outdoor place in which the bestiality image ran, but it was also going to appear in print and online.