PARMA, ITALY – The Barilla Group continues to be by Italy’s side: following donations to support the emergency, the company also wanted to express its closeness and gratitude to #italiacheresiste (#resilientitaly), through an emotional video that is on air on the main national TV stations from Sunday, April 5th. It is a special message of sincere gratitude, on behalf of the company, to all those who are contributing to keeping the country going in a time of difficulty.
Barilla has donated a total of over 2 million euros to the Maggiore Hospital of Parma, the Civil Protection and the Parma Red Cross. The most important donation concerns the Maggiore Hospital of Parma and will allow a significant improvement of the equipment and functionality of the Intensive Care Unit in dealing with the current health emergency caused by the spread of COVID-19.
The second contribution from the Alimenta Foundation, established by Barilla in 2009, will specifically assist the Civil Protection and the Parma Red Cross and relates to a series of medical devices and logistical equipment necessary to face this particularly critical moment that the territories of Parma and Cremona are experiencing.
Barilla also wanted to express its immense “Thank You” through a special commercial that uses words born from the collaboration with Holden Studios, the creative laboratory of the most authoritative writing and storytelling school in Italy: the Holden School.
The voice of the commercial has been entrusted to Sophia Loren, an icon that embodies the Italian spirit, its beauty, its excellence, the desire to do and to be able to help. A project in which the actress – sharing the spirit and the message – said she would immediately get involved in a completely pro bono way, in order to convey through her distinctive voice her closeness and sincere affection for Italy and its people, in this difficult and delicate moment.
Barilla, therefore, firstly addresses its message of closeness and gratitude to the doctors and nurses who are on the front line of the emergency, but also to the pharmacists, cashiers, workers, transporters and to the entire food supply chain who, every day, dedicate themselves to the good of the country and its people. The message is extended to all those united by the same desire to help overcome this difficult moment together: those who look after sick people in the hospital, those who take care of their families at home; those who work in factories and those who are working remotely behind a PC; those studying to find a cure, and those who are making drawings to hang on their balconies.
The video message, created in collaboration with the agency Publicis Italia, intertwines the musical notes of Vangelis, rearranged for the orchestra – one of the most famous and beloved songs related to Barilla – with images of places from our beautiful land, that remind us of who we are and why it is worth resisting.
The commercial is on air from April 5th on all national broadcasters.
