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100 Dildos Used in Protest of Trump-Putin Summit Are Free on Craigslist

Prankster Jeff Jetton used the dildos to cover the Wall Street Charging Bull statue with phalluses earlier this week during the Helsinki Summit meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Rachel Pick
New York, US
Image: Jeff Jetton

Early Monday morning, the day Donald Trump met with Vladimir Putin at the Helsinki Summit, New York creative strategist Jeff Jetton dressed up like a shirtless Putin, stuck 100 or so dildos to the famous Wall Street sculpture “Charging Bull,” and hopped on top for some truly wild photo ops. Eventually, the NYPD asked Jetton to remove the dildos, which he did with the assistance of a helpful tourist, but pictures and videos of the stunt were already making their way around Twitter, Reddit, and other corners of the internet.

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Now, these dildos need a good home, so Jetton is giving them all away for free on Craigslist. The ad reads, in full:

“Looking for someone in need of a large JCrew duffel bag full of one hundred 'like new' adult toys used as props in a political statement on Wall Street's Charging Bull sculpture. **FREE** There are five different varieties: blue, black, purple, 'flesh-colored' and 'multi-colored'. Each style is a different size and shape. The toys were donated by a reputable manufacturer out of Berlin, Germany and are of the highest quality. In addition, each toy is a suction cup that attaches easily to flat surfaces like the storefront window of a cake shop, the glass office tower of a multinational corporation or even large works of art such as brass animals.”

I reached out to Jetton to ask him some questions about the stunt via Twitter DM. “I had done a stunt at Deutsche Bank a while back where I dressed as a devil in a suit and attempted to deposit 10,000 rubles in a briefcase at Deutsche Bank headquarters on Wall Street,” he told me. “I happened to have a dildo in the briefcase also and stuck it on the bull for the tourists taking photos. The dildo was received to great acclaim, so I figured 100 of them would fare even better.” A reasonable conclusion.

Image: Jeff Jetton

Jetton had a friend who did public relations for the adult entertainment industry, so the friend hooked him up with several dozen donated dongs to pull off “Project Dildo.” I asked Jetton what meaning, if any, he assigned to the use of dildos as protest symbol. “I would say it’s open to interpretation, for better or for worse. I can imagine a world where folks might associate Putin and a whole bunch of dicks marauding over our democratic institutions.”

Since a fair number of the dildos are decked in the rainbow colors of the LGBT Pride flag, I wanted to address the trend of people jokingly imposing a narrative of homoeroticism on the relationship between Trump and Putin, a move which is both homophobic and deeply unclever. Jetton was quick to distance himself from that type of humor. “[That was] certainly not my intention at all. I didn’t even bring Trump into the equation other than the timing and context of the Helsinki Summit. But again everyone has the right to interpret it their own way and to project their own ideas. I will say that the dildos were donated and I had no say in what color, shape, or size they are.”

The dildos might be ready to retire to their forever homes, but the story isn’t quite over yet for Jetton, who’s been asked by the NYPD to go to the 1st Precinct and receive a summons.

“I’ve got my fingers crossed that [the dildos] each find a happy home full of utility,” Jetton told me. “I’ve already gotten a mountain of interest on Craigslist so I feel the only equitable thing to do is divide them up and give them to a bunch of people. Democratic Socialism.”