Silvio Berlusconi is taking a break from his well-publicized personal scandals to be the face of a new tourism ad on Italian TV.
The commercial features the prime minister flipping through an Italian photography book. As he looks at iconic images of Rome, Naples, Florence and Sicily, he muses that Italy is home to 50% of the globe’s UNESCO world heritage sites. While Italy does have the highest concentration of UNESCO sites, Berlusconi is slighting exaggerating with his 50% claim.
The ad is aimed at an Italian audience, encouraging citizens to visit their own country’s artistic and archeological sites. The new ad comes on the heels of a study that found Italians are taking less holidays, especially when it comes to destinations within Italy.
Maria Vittoria Brambilla, Italy’s Minister of Tourism, praised Berlusconi for lending his weight to the campaign. She claims that the spot only took 15 minutes to film, meaning the infamous leader wasn’t distracted from his legal troubles for long. The prime minster’s latest trial is scheduled to start 6 April 2011.
Watch Silvio Berlusconi's tourism commercial below:
