Another bit of graphic design work took a foul turn in Moscow. Commissioned to come up with an ad campaign for a Russian financial magazine, the News Outdoors ad agency presented an image of what they hoped would show the euro getting along famously with the dollar. In the poster, the symbol for the euro is embracing the dollar sign, its little blue arms stretched out to the dollar's supple curves. But in the eyes of the Moscow Committee for Advertising and Information, that cartoon euro is actually showing what the euro's doing to the dollar in the world market - which is to say, it's screwing it from behind.

Committee chairman Igor Presnyakov immediately issued a warning letter to News Outdoors, who scrambled to take down about 100 posters around Moscow. The magazine's publisher says he "thought the currencies were dancing. But after hearing from Mr. Presnyakov, I saw that, yes, maybe this is a love scene."

» Scott Saxon