Just in case you thought America was the land of crass, anything-goes-commercialism, you should be reminded that every person who lives here came from somewhere else:

Billboards have become an increasingly common sight on Rome's monuments since a 1997 law authorizing the sale of advertising on scaffolding to cover the costs of restoration work to the city's vast cultural heritage.

Which sounds all well and good, but the law of unintended consequences tends to find the ass of beuracrats most tasty of all:

Some buildings are putting up scaffolding just to make money from advertising,

However, restorations are expensive and don't pay for themselves. Tacky? It's advertising... I'm not sure you can be tasteful with the stuff. But if putting up with a few years of gaudiness is what it takes to ensure chunks of history aren't falling on the heads of tourists, well, that's a pretty easy decision as far as I'm concerned.