The mayor of a Belgian town has apologized for any offense caused by its phallic Christmas decorations, insisting that any resemblance to the male genitalia was completely unintentional. The decorations, which have lights using the city of Oudenburg’s colors of blue and white, consist of round balls placed atop a white column and while many find them hilarious, others were a bit taken aback.
- They were originally going to make candles. However, someone apparently thought putting a flame shape on top of the pillars was a bit too cliche, according to the Daily Mail, and so they went with the balls instead. I mean, come on!
- At least the mayor has a sense of humor. Oudenburg’s mayor, Anthony Dumarey, said that while the decorations weren’t intentionally rude, he did get why some people were so amused by them. “Of course, it was not our intention to install Christmas lights that remind people of a penis,” he said. “But we do see the lighter side of the incident.”
- Apparently they didn’t look quite so bad until they were lit. According to Dumarey, it wasn’t apparent just how much they looked like a body part until it was dark out and the lights were switched on. “‘I only realized it myself when they were illuminated. But we have to see the humor in this,” he explained.
- They were homemade, if that helps? The decorations were designed by Oudenburg’s technical department and were made on the cheap. It’s unlikely that the department purposely set out to make penis-like pieces, that’s exactly what happened and Dumarey thinks it’s kinda cool that the world is talking about it. “If we had bought them, it would have cost us around three times as much. So we chose the city’s colors and put a blue tip on top because we thought a flame was cliche. There has been a lot of reaction, but of course we did not intentionally set out to make them this way,” Dumarey said. “I see the funny side of it myself. We really have to do that in these dark and difficult times.”
- Oudenburg won’t be removing or replacing them. As Dumarey said, it’s really no big deal. “The first time I saw them during the day, I didn’t pay any attention to them. Once they were illuminated, I noticed immediately. But I see no reason to remove or replace them.’ Let’s just say that we will have the country’s most talked-about Christmas lights this year.”
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