Tourists visiting the picturesque and posh Italian lakeside town of Como have always been spoiled for choice when it comes to souvenirs, from fridge magnets and keyrings to snow globes and ornaments. Now there's a new item they can take home that is turning heads and raising eyebrows: sealed cans of “Lake Como air.”
The cans, sold by the communications company ItalyComunica, are priced at $11 (€9.90), with each can containing 13.5 ounces (400ml) of "pure air from the most beautiful lake in the world," the product website says.
The cans are marketed as a “luxurious souvenir,” offering tourists a chance to take a piece of Lake Como home and described as “perfect for those who wish to rediscover the peace and elegance of this heavenly corner, sealed in a tin.”
Lake Como Air encourages visitors to “open it whenever you need a moment of escape, tranquility, or simply beauty.”
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The cans, which have been on sale since early October, can only be found in local stores in and around Como. They can't be purchased online, with the company aiming to promote visits to the Lake Como area.
"Only those who visit Lake Como can want to buy our souvenir, memories are not bought but lived," the website says.
The cans are being sold at two locations in Como — a bookshop and a restaurant — as well as in Menaggio and Lenno, two popular destinations on the lake.
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Lake Como, 50 miles north of Milan, is renowned for its extravagant villas that attract celebrities and other well-heeled vacationers from far and wide.
International film productions have chosen the lake as a stunning backdrop, and social media are awash with users showing off their trips.
Interest in Lake Como soared in 2002 after George Clooney purchased a villa in Laglio, a village on the western shore of the lake.
One user on X noted that this celebrity connection has now inspired this quirky product that is “Inspired and breathed by George Clooney.”
But not everyone is sold on this breath of fresh Italian air.
Many on social media criticized those buying the canned air, dismissing it as an “old idea” with one user, Nelson Neilson, writing in a post on X: "Not new. My parents had something similar from Banff 50 years ago."
Still, others saw the humor.
“Come on! It’s just a souvenir,” user Kovács Géza posted on X.
This is not the first time that Italian air has been canned and sold.
Shortly after World War II, Italian businessman Gennaro Ciaravolo started selling canned air from Naples.
Ciaravolo used empty food aid cans left by U.S. troops after the liberation and claimed to fill them with air, calling it “Aria di Napoli.”
And canned air is not unique to Europe. Canadian brand Vitality Air captures and bottles air from The Rocky Mountains, selling it around the world.
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