The Italian Ministry of Tourism has been criticized for a video promoting the country, which was shot in Slovenia, not Italy. Audiences also did not like the very modern “Venus” wearing a mini skirt presenting some of the main tourist attractions of Italy. “Grotesque,” Tomaso Montanari, an art historian, assessed the advertising campaign. The campaign cost €9 million.
The Italian Ministry of Tourism has been criticized after how it promotes its country in an official advertising campaign.
“Italy. Be open to a miracle. The slogan of the new promotional campaign of the Ministry of Tourism and Enit, which will have a unique ambassador, announced the Italian Ministry of Tourism in its Twitter entry. In it we see graphics with a modern edition of Botticelli’s Venus.
Venus became an influencer
It is about the film production “Open to Meraviglia” (Open to a miracle), which is part of a campaign worth 9 million euros ($9.91 million) and was made by the Armando Testa group.
Critics didn’t like that it uses a computerized version of the influencer Venus, a symbol of Italian art depicted by Sandro Botticelli in his Renaissance masterpiece The Birth of Venus.
Promotional video of the campaign “Italy. Open up to a miracle”Italian Ministry of Tourism
Now the very modern “Venus” wears a mini skirt, eats pizza and shows off some of Italy’s top tourist attractions, such as the Colosseum and Florence Cathedral.
They were supposed to promote Italy, they recorded in Slovenia
The most controversial part of the advertisement is the one in which a group of young people drink wine on a patio in a supposedly Italian setting. Recipients noted that this patio is located in the Cotar region of Sloveniaclose to the Italian border, and the bottle on the table has a Cotar wine label.
Art historian Tomaso Montanari called the ad campaign “grotesque” and “obscene”. He said it was a waste of money. The video was criticized by users of Italian social media platforms. Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche, a member of the far-right Italian Brothers party, called critics of the film “snobs” and said that the depiction of Venus as an influencer was intended to attract young people.
The Armando Testa Group has not commented on the matter.