In 24 Hours, Pirelli's Calendar Showed How Quickly a Brand Can Modernize Its Image

Tire maker's new take on sexiness scored praise from women worldwide

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It's not often that a tire company burns a path across the Internet the way Pirelli did when it took the wraps off its 2016 calendar this week.

For those few who haven't heard about it since its launch in London on Monday, the Italian radial king—which makes news each year when it issues its glossy, collector calendars—has broken with half a century's worth of its own tradition: Instead of the usual fare of skinny, chesty, scantily clad models, the brand's 2016 calendar devotes its pages this year to "women of outstanding professional, social, cultural, sporting and artistic accomplishments."

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