A new advertising campaign in Italy to promote Italian monuments has a threatening slogan of “if you don’t visit it, we’ll take it away”, developed by the cultural and arts ministry.
It’s an odd way of promoting tourism in Italy, in particular its historic monuments, but the campaign is meant to heighten appreciation of Italy’s incredible history.
As you can see in the photos, the Colosseum is being taken apart, and Michelangelo’s “David” is being moved elsewhere, to more deserving locations.
It may seem to be a harsh message to those outside Italy, but the campaign seeks to address the gap between Italian and foreign tourists in the Belpaese.
Italians often lag behind overseas visitors in the appreciation of their own cultural and historic interests, and the campaign is aimed at arresting the decreasing trend of Italian tourists in Italy, with a goal of increasing local tourism by three percent in 2010, five percent in 2011 and another ten percent in 2012.