Trenitalia and the Frecciarossa Commercial: The Case Study

What do Trenitalia and Frecciarossa have to do with a blog about journalism is probably the question on the minds of everyone who landed here. So as not to waste their time, I will immediately explain why I chose this title for the post.

At the end of 2011,Trenitalia launched the new Frecciarossa packages, the high-speed train that covers much of Italy. The new Frecciarossa campaign sparked the anger of consumer associations due to restrictions on upper carriages for those using the Standard service—that is, the cheapest one. Given the economic crisis, we can say that this service interests many people who travel for work but don’t earn enough to afford higher-tier packages.

The story struck me so much that it inspired an article for the FullTravel travel blog that I manage daily. However, my article did not stop at the issue of the packages but also raised another case. Next to the presentation of the Standard service, Frecciarossa featured a black couple, unlike the other images for the more expensive packages.

This set off a viral effect typical of the Internet, so much so that starting from my article titled “Trenitalia and the racist gaffe of the Frecciarossa ad” countless bloggers picked up the story. But that’s not all. Consumer associations intervened, it was covered by Corriere della Sera online (without citing the source, a bad habit), Secolo XIX and even the national TG3 dedicated a segment to the topic.

For those who want to reconstruct the story, here are some highlights:

• On December 29 I published the article Trenitalia and the racist gaffe of the Frecciarossa ad
  
•  A few days later, the online newspaper Linkiesta wrote about the topic and offered a reconstruction of the events http://www.linkiesta.it/frecciarossa-standard-linkiesta also referencing my article.
• It was also covered by the TG3 National in the January 4th edition.Here is the link to click to watch TG3 and the report on the topic, starting at minute 19:20.
  
• The Corriere della Sera online, in an article by two colleagues, discusses the case, even quoting a phrase from my blog’s headline, “racist gaffe” but being careful not to mention my name. I am sorry that Italy’s most prestigious newspaper is reluctant to give credit where credit is due. But so be it…
  Click to read the article Immigrants in fourth class: the Trenitalia ad sparks debate among bloggers
  
• The Secolo XIX on January 5th dedicated an article to the topic entitled “Racist ad”: The Web against Fs citing me.Download the full article here in PDF format. Here’s an excerpt:

“A freelance journalist, Anna Bruno, was the first to notice, and four days ago she posted this news on her blog Fulltravel.it: “Trenitalia and the racist gaffe of the Frecciarossa advertising.” Unsurprisingly, the web immediately fueled debate and groups were formed on Facebook to demand the ad campaign’s withdrawal. What was called into question was the pairing of image and message: mother, father, and daughter had dark skin, of Indian descent. This was only for the Standard level because, moving up to the more luxurious Premium, Business and Executive, among managers and businesswomen in suits, there was not a single person of color to be seen. In fact, if you look more closely at the extensive video campaign presenting the new 4 levels of service—which will gradually replace the classic first and second class—there is the footage of the meeting room. “As you can see, there’s also a person of color here,” Trenitalia replies. True, and next to him is a woman with a more amber complexion. But both are subordinates to the manager, in a full suit and tie—who, however, is as white as can be. “Nonsense and falsehoods,” Trenitalia responds. “We have already sent a clarification to the blog, explaining that we did not even notice the color. Unlike those who did, and for whom, perhaps, skin color matters more than it does to us.”

In reality, I never received any clarification from Trenitalia, and I do not understand which blog the company’s spokesperson is referring to. However, the image was replaced, as I documented on the blog “Trenitalia and the racist gaffe of the Frecciarossa advertising. If Trenitalia had nothing to blame itself for, why first remove and then replace the image with one of empty seats?

I wanted to reconstruct, in this space, the story of the case raised by my article because I would like to dedicate this “small moment of glory” to all the journalists who bring important news and noteworthy cases to light every day, often without proper recognition or fair compensation.