ROME – The Italian Ministry of Tourism and ENIT’s new “Open to Wonder” ad campaign stirred up viewers after one scene was revealed to have been shot in Slovenia, said Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper.

 The advertisement, which was revealed by Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanchè on Thursday and will be promoted on flights and railway stations across the world, is worth nine million euros, according to BrandNews.it. 

 The ad features a modern-day, virtual, “influencer” version of Sandro Boticelli's Venus, a choice made by Santanchè. 2023 Venus carries a cell phone and is clothed, unlike her circa 1485 counterpart.

 The campaign’s claim, “Open to Meraviglia,” or “Open to Wonder,” was commissioned by the Armando Testa group, and is displayed within the ad over various images of the country’s gems, from Venice to Turin, to Rome and Puglia.

 Massimiliano Milic of the production company Terroir Films called out the ad on Sunday, claiming that one scene in particular had been shot in Slovenia, not Italy. 

 In between the landscape shots of Italy, about 30 seconds in, young people gather around a table, drinking wine outside what is assumed to be an Italian farmhouse.

 Il Fatto Quotidiano confirmed Milic’s claim after finding the same video on Artgrid, a foreign stock image and video website. They also noted the bottle of Slovenian Cotar wine that sits on the table in the same scene.

 The ad sparked controversy in the media on Sunday as viewers questioned the cost of the ad and the seemingly missing Italianness in what should have been an Italian tourism promotional ad; in addition to the scene shot in Slovenia, the ad’s director, Hans Peter Scheep, is Dutch.

 One Twitter user wrote, “Marvelous! What will the next step be? Advertise Prosecco with a bottle of Champagne?”

 Another wrote, "Well, the Venus of Santanchè convinced me. This year I’m going on holiday in Slovenia,” criticizing Santanchè as the mind behind the campaign. 

 The Minister of Tourism chose Venus as the ad's star after learning of the painting's long-standing spot in Florence's Uffizi Gallery, since 1815. 

 "Good," she said, "I like women who work and stay in the office as much as I do." 

 Santanchè was designated as Minister of Tourism by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in 2022, and she has been a member of the Brothers of Italy party since 2017. 

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