Forget Jersey Shore, MTV has found another way to stir up controversy. Residents of Truckee, Calif., were up in arms Saturday when they saw the snow sculpture the crew of an MTV reality show had built in the town’s downtown.
"It was a giant penis with water shooting out," merchant Stefani Olivieri told ABC's News10. "It was not appropriate. There were a lot of children around."
Her sentiments were echoed by fellow resident Darla Ford in an email to the chamber of commerce and the Sierra Sun.
"We were so appalled that something like this could take place in our town. Parents were rushing their children away from it so they would not have to explain why grown men wearing fur were drinking the white fluid and dancing in it, too.”
The crew was filming a segment for Dudesons in America, a new stunt-and-prank reality show for MTV similar to the cable network’s Jackass.
In a special event permit application, New Remote Productions had detailed that cast members would freeze their tongues to the flagpole outside the town’s historic train depot, and build an eight-foot snow sculpture.
The company maintained that the sculpture would be tasteful, said town manager Tony Lashbrook. "There were three different times they had an opportunity to be truthful and they weren't," he said.
Lashbrook added that Truckee has sent a formal letter to MTV Networks protesting the incident and is waiting for a response.
Dudesons in America stars the titular quartet as they bring their hit Finnish show, which started airing its four seasons in 2001, to the U.S. Fittingly enough, it’s executive-produced by Jackass star Johnny Knoxville.
A full-length film featuring the boys, The Dudesons Movie, was released in Finland and was distributed on DVD in the U.S. in July 2006 by Warner Rhino.
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