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Agence France-Presse

A French television channel apologised to Italy on Tuesday for airing a mock advert for “corona pizza” in which a coughing chef hacks green phlegm onto Italy’s national dish.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio slammed the 10-second gag on the satirical Groland programme on Canal+, in which the red tomato base, white mozzarella and green mucus make up the colours of the national flag, as “bad taste and unacceptable”.
Globally, more than 3,100 people have died of the coronavirus and over 90,000 have been infected.
Italy is the worst-hit in Europe, with 79 deaths and more than 2,500 people infected.

polemiche per questo video di Canal + pizza corona pic.twitter.com/HlYx4Rzd1z
— Giuseppe (@Giusepp94144040) March 3, 2020

“Here’s the new Italian pizza, which is going to spread around the world,” the fake advert says.
Countries from Britain to China and France have reported cases of people bringing the virus back with them from Italy.
“Making fun of the Italians like that, with the coronavirus emergency we are facing, is profoundly disrespectful”, Di Maio said, adding that he had ordered the Italian embassy in Paris to voice Rome’s displeasure.
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He insisted the media were “morally obliged” not to spread disinformation, saying the Italian economy was paying the price.
The tourism sector in Italy has been hit particularly hard, with lots of airlines cutting or reducing flights to the north, where the outbreak is concentrated, and hotels reporting widespread cancellations while monuments and museums lie eerily empty.


Soon after Di Maio’s comments, Canal+ issued a statement admitting that its joke was “in very bad taste”.
Canal+ said it had removed the clip from its reruns and replay channel, and was “sending a letter of apology to the Italian ambassador to Paris this [Tuesday] afternoon)”.
But the damage had already been done.
Italy’s agricultural minister Teresa Bellanova slammed the video as “shameful and horrifying”.
Virus cake, anyone? Italians fight fear with silliness as cases jump to 888
“This is not satire, it’s an insult to an entire nation,” she said. “As the European and international authorities have repeatedly stated, it is not transmitted through food.”
Despite that, Di Maio said unspecified countries had “called for a ‘virus free’ label on Italian products” – which he said was absurd.
The French joke also bombed with Italian farmers’ association Coldiretti.
It called it a “stab in the back” for the Made in Italy industry, worth some €5 billion ($5.6 billion) in exports to France, the second largest market after Germany.


The pestilent pizza ploy was a “petty and instrumental attack” on a market rival, the farmers’ association said.
The two countries historically compete on wine, cheese and bubbles, with Prosecco giving Champagne a run for its money.
The Alpine neighbours have long had turbulent relations, with Italy often bridling at perceived French smugness.
Italy coronavirus cases jump 50 per cent in a day
The last time the neighbours swapped outright insults was under Italy’s populist government, when political and diplomatic dialogue effectively ground to a halt.
But Di Maio opted Tuesday for the moral high ground, inviting the video’s makers “to come and eat pizza in Italy, a pizza like they have never eaten in their lives”.
Canal+ made no mention of Di Maio’s offer in its statement.


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Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: French ‘corona pizza’ video outrages Italians, prompting apology

A screen grab from a mock ad by French television channel Canal+ that shows a chef coughing green phlegm over a “corona pizza”. Photo: Canal+ via Twitter

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US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks to reporters after the central bank cut interest rates in an emergency move on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

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Brand favourability for Corona dropped from 75 per cent in early January to 51 per cent in late February, according to daily consumer surveys taken by YouGov. Photo: EPA-EFE

The Twitter ad for Corona's new hard seltzers has since been taken down.

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Television channel admits mock advert that shows chef coughing green phlegm onto Italy’s national dish was ‘in very bad taste’
Italian foreign minister slams 10-second clip for ‘making fun of Italians’ as country struggles with outbreak



Television channel admits mock advert that shows chef coughing green phlegm onto Italy’s national dish was ‘in very bad taste’.


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