Italy tourism campaign video mocked for featuring Slovenian wine and virtual Venus

The Italian tourism ministry found itself in hot waters after its official video aimed at attracting tourists to the nation used footage of people in Slovenia drinking Slovenian wine. Critics mocked the campaign on social media even before it emerged that part of it had been shot abroad.

News agency Reuters reported that the video was part of a $9.91 million campaign, which has been produced by the Armando Testa communications group. It was widely criticised even within the government.

The campaign, titled "Open to Meraviglia" (Open to Wonder), features Sandro Botticelli's Venus as a "virtual influencer". Venus is a symbol of Italian art and it has been depicted by Botticelli in his Renaissance masterpiece The Birth of Venus.

In the video, the computerised "Venus" was seen donning a mini-skirt and is shown eating pizza and presenting some of Italy's main tourist attractions such as Rome's Coliseum or Florence's cathedral.

Art historian Tomaso Montanari called the advertising campaign "grotesque" and an "obscene" waste of money.

Italian culture undersecretary and outspoken art critic Vittorio Sgarbi told La Repubblica newspaper, "Since Venus is naked, it would have been better to see her that way, without needing to dress her up like this."

Sgarbi described the campaign as "the stuff of Ferragni", (referring to social media influencer Chiara Ferragni) and asked: "Open to meraviglia? What's that about? What language is it?"

Many users of Italian social media platforms have mocked the video for its most controversial part, showing a group of young people smiling on a sunlit patio drinking wine in what is presented as a typical Italian scene.

The controversy erupted when some eagle-eyed viewers spotted that the patio in question is actually in the Cotar region of Slovenia, which is close to the Italian border, and the bottle on the table has a Cotar wine label, which is Slovenian, not Italian.

The Armando communications group has not responded to the criticism yet, but the Italian Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, called critics of the video "snobs".

Santanche added that the depiction of Venus as an influencer was aimed at attracting young people.

Santanchè told Radio RTL 102.5 at the weekend: "Regarding the memes circulating on the net, I had a laugh. I consciously chose Botticelli's Venus, an icon known throughout the world and a symbol of our Italian spirit."

For the attacks on pizza-making campaign, Santanchè said: "I don't understand the criticism, pizza is famous all over the world, it is part of the Mediterranean diet and of our cuisine, which is appreciated, imitated and copied all over the world. Perhaps it is criticised by the slightly snobby and radical chic people who eat caviar and salmon."

(With inputs from agencies)

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