Santanchè, the idea to promote tourism: Botticelli's Venus on a scooter

It has gone very quiet, even among insiders, the idea that Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè has launched to promote Italian destinations abroad: an advertising video starring Botticelli’s Venus... on a scooter. And it seems to be more than a hypothesis, since, according to the minister’s statements, the Ministry of Tourism is already working with one of Italy’s best-known advertising agencies, Studio Armando Testa, to bring the Venus on wheels to life.

The minister externalized her intentions in an interview published last Sunday in Sole 24 Ore. When asked what the ministry’s communication strategy is, Santanchè replied that “the plan has to be presented and discussed with institutional stakeholders, but I can anticipate that we will have a world-renowned influencer with us. No, it’s not the one you think, but one considered the most well-known image after the Mona Lisa: Botticelli’s Venus. With the Armando Testa agency, we have imagined a video with Botticelli’s Venus that, turning on a scooter, will make people discover or review the known and lesser-known beauties of our country. Objective international tourism.”

These are the words of the minister. For now, there are no reactions except that of the association Mi Riconosci, which in a tweet comments ironically “Yes,” suggesting that the minister’s idea is not exactly the best: seeing one of the eternal icons of female beauty whizzing around on a scooter is objectively not the best image our country can give of Venus. It brings to mind the much-criticized commercial to promote Calabria, whose protagonists were the Riace bronzes, transformed into two cretins who played odd and even to decide their vacation destination, and then tried to escape from the museum.

All that remains, then, is to trust in the possible opposition of “institutional interlocutors”: otherwise it will serve to hope that the Venus on a scooter will not convince foreign tourists to vacation in Croatia.

Santanchè, the idea to promote tourism: Botticelli's Venus on a scooter

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