Rome CNN —Italy’s tourism ministry is facing ridicule after an official video to attract tourists to Italy used footage of people in Slovenia drinking Slovenian wine. Art historian Tomaso Montanari called the advertising campaign “grotesque” and an “obscene” waste of money, while the video was lampooned by users of Italian social media platforms. Oops – wrong countryThe most controversial footage shows a group of young people smiling on a sunlit patio drinking wine in what is presented as a typical Italian scene. The Armando Testa communications group was not immediately available to comment. Italian Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party, called critics of the video “snobs” and said the depiction of Venus as an influencer was aimed at attracting young people.

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