Empty cans containing air from Lake Como are being flogged to gullible vacationers for £8.40 (€10) a pop.
The sealed 400ml containers are being bought at a bookshop and a restaurant on the lake, in addition to in Menaggio and Lenno, two different in style locations on the vacation hotspot.
They’ve an aerial picture of a motorboat dashing throughout the idyllic Italian lake and have been on sale since early October.
Davide Abagnale is a guide for Italy Comunica – the advertising firm which dreamt up the cans.
He believes the souvenirs will attraction to American vacationers whose numbers have skyrocketed since Hollywood actor George Clooney purchased a villa on the lake greater than a decade in the past.
‘We wished to create a reminder that folks can simply take dwelling of their suitcases,’ Mr Abagnale, 36, advised The Instances.
‘When the can is opened it clearly loses its attraction a bit.’
Different locals are lower than impressed with the concept. One advised the Ansa information company: ‘I believe it’s higher to breathe the precise air of Como.
‘Shopping for it doesn’t carry the identical satisfaction.’
One other stated the gimmick made him really feel ‘ashamed’.
No matter its deserves, tourism is booming within the Lombardy area – with a file 5.6 million guests final yr, based on the area’s observatory.
The cans, that are purchased within the Netherlands and sealed in Como, have been impressed by one other canned air product bought in New York for years.
The idea is believed to have been invented in post-war Naples, the place empty meals containers left by American troopers have been resealed and rebranded as souvenirs.
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That is stated to have been impressed by French artist Marcel Duchamp who took a 50cc empty vial and labelled it ‘Air de Paris’ earlier than giving it to a good friend in 1919.
And whereas vacationers carry undoubted advantages, their rising numbers have additionally created issues.
In September, Bellagio – a village on the lake’s shores – restricted tour teams to 25 and banned guides from utilizing megaphones after changing into overrun.
Alessandro Rapinese, a neighborhood mayor who has beforehand floated the concept of a Venice-style entry charge for the area, admitted that the brand new cans wouldn’t be high of his to-buy listing.
However, he added: ‘If somebody desires to remove a little bit of our air, then please do.’
Whereas the cans are at the moment bought solely in Como, Mr Abagnale stated this may very well be prolonged on-line sooner or later.
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