Investigation Launched into Italy's Failed Marketing Campaign Starring Botticelli's "Influencer" Venus
Italy's Court of Auditors has initiated an inquiry into a communication campaign by the Ministry of Tourism, costing €140,000, as the campaign abruptly halted during the peak of the tourist season.
According to Politico, the campaign, funded by taxpayers, transformed Botticelli's Venus into a 21st-century influencer. However, this modern-day "influencer" vanished just as she was meant to promote Italian vacations.
She disappeared from Twitter, is absent on Facebook and TikTok, and hasn't posted anything on Instagram since June 27, when she posed in Taormina, Sicily.
As a result, the "Open to Meraviglia" marketing project by Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche vanished just when it was supposed to drive the tourism sector.
Prosecutor of the Court of Auditors for the Lazio region, Pio Silvestri, decided to launch an investigation to understand why the campaign, funded by the budget, abruptly ceased. During the inquiry, the head of the Ministry of Tourism will be called to explain the suspicion of causing tax damage.
When asked by journalists about the campaign, Santanchè stated that "Venus the influencer" will return soon and her disappearance was a "deliberate choice."
The "Open to Meraviglia" campaign proved to be unsuccessful from the start: an unregistered domain, images of Botticelli's Venus taken from free online catalogs, even photographs with low resolution from WhatsApp, which weren't even renamed. Meanwhile, posts on the Instagram account "Venere Italia 23," showcasing some of the most beautiful places on the peninsula, from Polignano to Pompeii, were only published until June 27.
However, mention of the Open to Meraviglia campaign emerged less than a week ago, when the profile of the Italian Volleyball Federation shared a video featuring female national team players posing in t-shirts with Venus' image, chosen by the Ministry of Tourism. Curiously, the video hadn't even been posted on the project's account.
As reported by The Gaze, Italian border guards detained a French citizen attempting to illegally transport 41 kg of pebbles from Sardinia in his car's trunk.
The man was found guilty of violating Sardinia's regional legislation governing tourist activities. According to this law, transporting "even a small amount of sand, stones, pebbles, or shells from the coastline or sea without proper permission or concession" is prohibited.
Currently, the French tourist faces an administrative fine ranging from €500 to €3,000. The collected pebbles were confiscated and returned to the beach.