THE advertising company that gave us iconic images such as the pregnant man and the snaking dole queue of “Labour isn’t working”, which helped the Conservatives to power in 1979, has a new approach.

Saatchi & Saatchi has eschewed traditional advertising techniques in favour of a more subversive, and possibly even illegal, method of getting its message across. As part of a £20 million campaign for a new Brazilian spirit it is spray-painting graffiti images on walls and buildings in the East End of London as a way to reach young consumers immune to conventional advertising.

But the campaign appears to have backfired. Real street graffiti artists have begun taking “direct action” against the interlopers. At the centre of the battle is a Christ-like figure dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, which has been sprayed in fashionable areas such as Brick Lane and Old Street.

The stencilled figure, based on the Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks Rio de Janeiro, is part of global advertising for Sagatiba, a brand of cachaca. However, street artists have identified the figure on websites and resolved to deface it wherever it appears. Posters have been torn down, stencils papered over and one image has had paint thrown over it. The company could also be fined up to £500 if it sprayed the image without permission.

D*Face, an artist and a curator at the Outside Institute gallery in Paddington, West London, said that artists were angry that an advertising agency had attempted to hijack an artform without investing in it.

“It dilutes what we are doing,” he said. “People will blank over stencils with paper or paint and rip down posters.”

The Santiago image was the brainchild of Richard Denney and Dave Henderson, who were told to think of an idea that could be used as “viral” or “contagion” marketing, which allows consumers to think that they have discovered a product.

A spokeswoman for Saatchi & Saatchi declined to comment on the legality of the adverts, but said that the company regularly used guerrilla marketing tactics to catch the attention of young consumers.

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