Italy tourism promotion video exposed for using images of neighboring country

Reuters (UK) reported on April 25 that this video is part of a 9 million euro (9.91 million USD) campaign produced by the Armando Testa media group. The campaign was launched by the Italian Ministry of Tourism and the national tourist board.

Titled “Open to Meraviglia,” the campaign uses a computerized version of Venus, a symbol of Italian art and a masterpiece by Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, as a social media influencer.

However, Venus has been modernized in this campaign, becoming a girl who likes to take selfies and ride a bike through the Colosseum. This version of Venus is portrayed as an influencer, wearing a miniskirt and eating pizza, introducing some of Italy's major tourist attractions.

Italy’s Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche launched the “Open to Meraviglia” campaign on April 20. She said tourism has rebounded strongly since the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic when international travel was restricted. “The Venus is a symbol of the renaissance of tourism after the difficult years of the pandemic,” Santanche said. Santanche said the depiction of Venus as a social media celebrity was aimed at attracting young people.

However, art historian Tomaso Montanari called the promotional campaign "absurd" and a waste of money. The video was also criticized by users of social media platforms in Italy.

The most controversial scene in the video is a group of smiling young men in a sunny courtyard, drinking wine. It seems like a typical image of Italy, but sharp-eyed netizens discovered that this is actually an image of the Cotar region in Slovenia, close to the Italian border. Even the wine bottle on the table is labeled Cotar, Slovenia.

Armando Testa Group has not commented on this incident.

According to Tin Tuc Newspaper