The Esselunga advertising spot that portrays some scenes of daily life of a family of separated parents continues to be discussed. Many politicians commented on the commercial. Among them also the Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini: "That the child uses fishing to try to bring mom and dad closer together in my opinion is pure poetry. And if one manages to make controversy even on this he needs a good doctor".
"This commercial does not criminalize or trivialize the suffering of those who have had a separation, but expresses what in all probability is the desire of most children of separated couples: to see mom and dad get back together and find love and harmony again." This was stated in a statement by Elisabetta Scala, vice president of the Italian Parents Movement, and head of the MOIGE Media Observatory.
"I belong to the category of separated parents and it gave me great emotions." This was said by the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi. "The message that comes from the child, with a simple and affectionate gesture and that I lived in the spirit of my experience, is a message of great sensitivity that must be valued", he concluded.
"I don't know why this commercial has caused so much scandal, but I understand that it has struck because it tells a situation that many of us have experienced or that we have simply seen around us: a family that separates and a child who lives in a condition of discomfort. Very natural, very normal: The desire of every child is to have a mom and dad next to them and to live in a condition of tranquility and family love. Among other things, with many advertisements that instead show a fictitious reality, an artificial reality or that see the child only in his role as a consumer, this is a beautiful story, a story adherent to the feelings that children feel and that adults also feel. And so it seems to me that it was a good story and a good idea." This was said by the Minister for Family, Birth and Equal Opportunities Eugenia Roccella.
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Controversy on the spot of Esselunga, Meloni defends it
A peach and a little girl, daughter of separated parents. The controversy over the spot of the Esselunga chain does not subside. The story, told in a two-minute short film, of little Emma who buys a peach at the supermarket with her mother, which she will then give as a gift to her father on behalf of her unaware mother, has attracted criticism and praise on social media, igniting the debate. A spot that, according to some, can lend itself to different interpretations, but that pleases Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who defines it as "beautiful and touching". In the short film, Emma's goal is to bring her parents closer together, and the tool is fishing taken at the supermarket. An image appreciated by the many who on social media have highlighted how in this way the point of view of children has been emphasized with respect to a theme such as separation, but which according to others proposes a stereotypical family model. And the controversy also reaches the political world. The Prime Minister breaks a spear in favor of this atypical spot: "I read that this spot would have generated various controversies and disputes. I find it very beautiful and touching", he writes on social media. Michela Vittoria Brambilla, president of the Parliamentary Commission for Children and Adolescents, also expressed a positive opinion, according to whom the psychological distress of children of children of separated couples is "too often taken for granted. Esselunga turns the spotlight on this discomfort: it is an excellent thing that attention to the issue is drawn by a company that manages the first supermarket chain introduced in Italy, well rooted in the Center and North of the country, where traditionally - he comments - marriages 'hold' less". It is a "virtuous example of communication that combines attention to the social with a strong sensitivity". Advertising "has always taken on a cultural role, since the time of Toscani who, however, liked the left intelligentsia and therefore was fine", urges Alfredo Antoniozzi, deputy leader of the Brothers of Italy in the Chamber, while Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Matteo Salvini underlines how "transforming a commercial into a splendid message of love and family deserves only smiles. How can some people insult and mock him just because he doesn't tell the 'model' they want?" Also from Fratelli d'Italia, the leader of the group in the Chamber Lucio Malan comments that for once it is "a story seen through the eyes of children. Those who hate children and family are obviously furious." The former secretary of the Democratic Party Pier Luigi Bersani takes the opposite view, considering "really wrong, in this and other cases, to put in the middle the suffering of children on delicate issues for commercial purposes". Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein, on the other hand, does not speak: "I do not want to disappoint you, but I have not seen the commercial," she says. The leader of Azione Carlo Calenda commented: "Today the wheel of the waste of time of Italian politics has stopped on the spot box. What does that commercial tell us? Nothing. Except that in Esselunga they really know how to do their job. Now there would be the problem of health. There is no spot but there are waiting lists. We are a bunch of brainless people and we deserve extinction." According to Antonella Costantino, past president of the Italian Society of Neuropsychiatry of Childhood and Adolescence, this spot indicates that children must be listened to". To throw water on the fire of controversy, however, is the same Esselunga that, already yesterday, hHe explained the meaning of the short film by clarifying that "behind every product purchased there is a story" and that "shopping is not just an act of purchase, but has a much broader symbolic value. For every product we put in the cart there is a deeper meaning than we are used to thinking". But there is no doubt that from a commercial point of view, is the judgment of the advertiser Alberto De Martini, CEO of Conic, this spot is "a small work of art", a story that "manages to convey attention to the product as attention to people". The controversy, he concludes, is only "specious".
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