Every year the Tour de France does not only mean memorable efforts and victories, but also drag behind a questionable “tradition”: the foul graffiti designed by the spectators along the way. Usually deleted quickly before the aerial cameras immortalize them, this year they have become something completely different.
The merit is by Škoda and the FCB London agency who have chosen not to cover those vulgar symbols, but to transform them into artistic and feminist posters to promote the Tour de France femars. With the help of illustrators such as Cécile Dormau and Erin Aniker, the Fallic Symbols were redesigned a few days before the 19th stage of the men’s tour.
The result? Figures of cyclists, slogans for equality and messages that celebrate women’s sport, all accompanied by the hashtag #watchthefemmes. A gimmick that combines satire, irony and activism, restoring meaning to an element that has always been considered only a discomfort. And precisely in this rereading the strength of the project is hidden: transforming the vulgar into a platform for gender equality.
ŠKODA CONVIERTE LOS PENES PINTADOS EN LA RUTE of the Tour EN Arte Urban Que Visione El Tour de France Femmes.
In Través de ilustradoras feministas, exos graphis if transformation y l l l l’en hashtag #Watchthefemmes.
An ingenious acción que capta miDas y apaya el cycling … pic.twitter.com/hlljgg61il
– Karmina (@Agenciakarmina) July 30, 2025
A cultural change is needed
The project was carried out by an all -female team, aboard a ŠKODA support car transformed for the occasion in the “221st unofficial car” of the tour. A symbolic and powerful gesture that wants to give voice and visibility to the female race, too often put in shade from the male one.
The goal of the campaign is clear: to push the public to look at and support the women’s tour, which this year has 22 teams, over 150 cyclists and a path of 1,165 km. A young but rapid rise race.
As Owen Lee, creative director of FCB London pointed out, transforming those peni into reflection ideas means not only helping the organizers, but also celebrating cycling in all its forms. And so, thanks to a courageous and ironic gimmick, the tour is enriched with an unexpected message as necessary.
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