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A row has broken out in the Italian city of Venice over a new $2.7 million sponsorship deal between the authorities and Coca Cola.
Venice’s mayor said the funds raised by allowing vending machines to sell the drink across the city would be used to safeguard its artistic heritage…
The Italian newspapers claim that Venice is not only being swamped with mass tourism and threatened by floods from the Adriatic Sea, but will soon also be awash with fizzy drinks.
Sixty vending machines will sell the drink all over the city, including at the main waterbus stations and reportedly even St Mark’s Square, where a city ordinance already forbids picnicking by tourists.
The Mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari, has complained loudly about the lack of state funding to conserve the crumbling palaces and churches of the city and has strongly defended his decision to accept money from the US company.
Commercial sponsorship is the only financial strategy for safeguarding the monuments of Venice, he says.
Will they repaint the gondolas in Coke’s red-and-white? Give ‘em that tasteful NASCAR look?
Does Berlusconi get a cut – as usual?
Queen Liz has several in the palace
Everyone has a price.
To protect Venice you need people to maintain the structures who need housing food and entertainment which a sovereign people can choose to provide in exchange for the skilled labour (of course the bankers are now the sovereigns and democracy is a shell).
If there is a World financial crisis, where did all the money / bits go and do the Martians have them (’cause someone is getting very rich).
No resources, farms or technology disappeared. The downturn means less resources are being used and therefore there are more left.
It is completely manufactured for control (by chaos).
etc. etc. [End of rant]
#4 Did you mean KAOS?
It could be far far worse.
Imagine seeing on a street corner in downtown Venice, a Starbucks, a Subway, and a McDonalds.
Votes for the 4th corner?
In an old-style vending machine that dispenses only the classic 8 ounce glass bottles of Coke, the machines would blend in.
If you think NASCAR is bad, try Formula One. Not to mention, Italians are crazy for their F1!
I’ve wondered how long it will be before professional sports teams sell out to advertisers totally. The parks and arenas are already named for and decorated with corporate ads. I can see it now: The Detroit Pepsi Cola Red Wings, the Chicago Hormel Bulls…
#6: Imagine seeing on a street corner in downtown Venice, a Starbucks, a Subway, and a McDonalds.
Why not? There’s already a Hard Rock Café just off St Mark’s Square, although, curiously, when I was there last week it was only serving food at the weekends.
#5
Did you mean K.A.O.S.?
All your canal are belong to us.
Mexican Coke > Canal Coke
And you can get the Mexican Coke at Costco now. Actual progress in society.
*shrug* They obviously don’t want to spend the money and tax themselves to fix things.
As a consequence, a company actually wants to fix things for them for free advertising.
So where’s the problem gents.
Accept it or raise taxes to fix the problems.
What it is, is that the Cafes and eateries don’t want to lose the drink biz to vending machines. But they also don’t want to foot the bill in higher taxed, to fix up the city. So they’ve probably all banned together to toss out anyone who threatened to raise taxes on them. And they’ve got this “stick our fingers in our ears” approach to the city’s problems. Literally waiting for the state to “bail them out”. It won’t be G.W. that sinks Venice. It will be greed and stupidity of those making a buck there.
I don’t see what the problem is. Coke machines are great because then you can buy your favorite soft drinks without all that tiresome interaction with a cashier.