Botticelli’s Venus becomes an influencer to boost tourism in Italy: the advertising campaign that shook the internet.

Everyone knows Botticelli‘s Venus, exhibited at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, with her voluptuous body and windswept hair.

But no one would have ever imagined that this Renaissance icon could one-day wear jeans, eat pizza by Lake Como, take a selfie in Piazza San Marco, or go for a bike ride at the Colosseum. Yet, that’s exactly what happens in the new advertising campaign promoted by the Ministry of Tourism and ENIT to revitalize the tourism industry of the Belpaese!

Conceived by the famous Armando Testa communication group and titled “Open to Meraviglia“ (because it sounds cooler in English, guys!), the campaign transforms Botticelli‘s Venus into a contemporary virtual influencer who wears trendy clothes and uses informal language. We’re not the only ones who made the connection with Italy‘s most famous influencer. When Chiara Ferragni posed in front of Botticelli’s masterpiece for a photo shoot in 2020, social networks exploded with commentary. Coincidence or source of inspiration?

Venus is the protagonist of the “Open to Meraviglia” promotional video. She introduces herself as a youthful thirty-something (or something more) and invites us to follow her (or rather, follow her social media accounts @venereitalia23) to discover Italy and its rich cultural, architectural, artistic, and culinary heritage. Venus is the face of Italy worldwide and appears on the official websites of the Ministry of Tourism and ENIT, on social media, on flights of Italian national airlines, in numerous European train stations, and in major airports.

Aside from the controversial concept, numerous blunders in the execution of the campaign — which cost a whopping 9 million euros — scandalized internet users. Here are a few examples: a scene in the commercial with young people drinking wine was filmed in Slovenia, which suggests the use of free stock footage, the name of the Apulian city of Brindisi was translated as “Toast” in English on the official website, and the provincial capital of the Marche region, Fermo, was translated as “Stillstand” — all glaring errors (now corrected) typical of a rudimentary automatic translator. Not to mention the unregistered domain name opentomeraviglia (already purchased by others) or the campaign images sent via Whatsapp and uploaded to the website in poor resolution. Oversights by the marketing team? Cost-cutting strategy (it should be noted that the 9-million-euro budget was mainly spent on purchasing advertising space)? Lack of proficiency with artificial intelligence? Everyone has a theory, but no one has an answer.

The campaign has sparked a heated debate, especially on the web where, aside from the criticism, there has been a proliferation of humorous and satirical memes that expose the gap between advertising and reality. Among the most representative examples are Venus taking a selfie in front of a pile of trash on the street, Venus grilling meat skewers at a street stall, Venus smoking marijuana with the logo “Spliffs of Italia,” or – sadly – Venus on a migrant boat.

Whether they find it amusing or scandalous, Italians have taken a massive interest in the new campaign, which shows that they care deeply about how foreigners see their country. The commercial describes Italy in the style of a Piero Angela anecdote as a “little dot that the whole world has in its heart.” Rightly so. The beloved country occupies less than 0.50% of the Earth’s surface yet boasts the world’s largest number of UNESCO sites – 58.

“Open to Meraviglia” may not please everyone, but it does reignite the debate about Italy‘s attractiveness and how to enhance it. In short, as another beauty icon once said, “Good or bad, the important thing is that people talk about it.” Who knows, maybe Marilyn Monroe would have followed Venereitalia23!