Fiat Uno ad in Milan: Elmgreen & Dragset's 2003 artwork copied by ad agency?

In September 2019, an advertising installation for the renovation of the former Garage Traversi in Piazza San Babila, Milan, featured a Fiat 500 emerging from the pavement, closely resembling Elmgreen & Dragset's 2003 artwork "Short Cut" (a Fiat Uno with a caravan bursting through the floor of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele). The ad agency Ki – Energia Creativa, led by Pietro Bona, claimed the similarity was coincidental, not plagiarism. The original 2003 installation, produced by Fondazione Trussardi under Massimiliano Gioni's direction, was a landmark public art piece that humorously critiqued tourism and urban space. It even received a fine of €687.75 for obstructing pedestrian traffic, which Gioni cited as evidence of its successful integration into the city. The 2019 ad, featuring actors as police officers, was described by Gioni as a "farce"—a commercial, depowered version of the original. The Garage Traversi, designed by Giuseppe De Min and opened in 1938, is being redeveloped by Invesco Real Estate into a luxury hub with shops and rooftop spa/restaurants, expected by 2020. The article reflects on how art shapes collective imagination and urban perception, noting that the public's ability to laugh at the ad instead of calling the police indicates the lasting impact of the Trussardi Foundation's work.