The proposal of the Consortium of Finocchiona IGP in the aftermath of the social giant’s decision to block a campaign, mistaking the term “finocchiona” for an insult: Dear Mark Zuckerberg, we are waiting for you in Tuscany.
“An algorithm cannot know the history of Finocchiona and, above all, its unmistakable flavor,” thus, the Consortium of Finocchiona IGP commented on Meta’s decision to block a campaign by an Apulian agency created for a wine shop in Bari that advertised a Finocchiona sandwich. The initiative, according to the parameters of Meta, a U.S.-based company that controls Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger services, “appears to insult or target specific groups of protected categories and therefore does not meet our community standards.” The term “finocchio” – apart from the official meaning of fennel – is the Italian slang for “gay”.
An obvious misunderstanding, not the first of its kind, which the Tuscan Consortium greeted with a smile, highlighting how this error by Meta’s Artificial Intelligence offers an opportunity to communicate the history and peculiarities of the famous cured meat to a wider audience.
Finocchiona IGP, a Tuscan excellence with a long tradition, originates from the ingenuity and knowledge of the territory by peasants in the Middle Ages, when pepper, a rare and expensive spice, was replaced with another ingredient, naturally offered by the green hills of the territory: fennel flowers and seeds, an element that gives Finocchiona that unmistakable scent that conquers all. “So, dear Mark Zuckerberg, we are waiting for you in Tuscany to “share” a plate of Finocchiona IGP: our unique and characteristic cured meat!” the Consortium concludes.
