Take Home A Breath Of Italy: Lake Como's '100% Authentic Air' Now Available As A Souvenir

For a lot of travelers, a vacation souvenir is about the capturing of the essence of a place and taking it back home. While postcards, fridge magnets and shawls are some of the most common options, in Italy you get to take back something a little more out of the ordinary but still original. An Italian communications company called ItalyComunica did something unexpected: they started selling cans of ‘air’ – the real – 100 % genuine air from the famous Lake Como which is arguably the most picturesque lake in Italy. Each can costs €9.90 (about $11). It has a content of 400ml of air from the lake and helps the tourists save their images in a very creative way.

Lake Como's '100% Authentic Air' Now Available As A Souvenir

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Besides being a picturesque place, Lake Como is also known for being the property of Celebrities, for instance, George Clooney is said to have a house there, not forgetting that movies like Casino Royale or House of Gucci were shot in that region. It is such a place, almost entertaining more than 5.6 million tourists in 2023, and the trends are still on the rise. To follow this tourism wave, a marketing consultant launched a marketing campaign and via an e-commerce platform, offered Lake Como pictures for purchase considering many people like them as in case with San Francisco or Los Angeles. His new concept, selling bottled air, is two fold in nature – one "a souvenir which can be kept in a bag easily by a tourist," and another, "something less serious, funny and even outrageous."

"It’s not merely an inventory item but rather a concrete keepsake lapel pin kept in one’s pocket," says Abagnale. It is ideal for people who would like to go back to the serene and picturesque scenery of Lake Como." Even after its contents have been totally consumed, the can is meant to be aimed as a durable memento, perhaps as a pen tumbler for use. To this, however, there are dissenting opinions.

 Como's Mayor Alessandro Rapinese points out that while it is an innovative design, he would rather have tourists buy conventional memorabilia such as regional silk scarves. 'It's a nice concept but not pleasant to all,' he adds. In spite of this, Rapinese points out that he is in favor of any means in which people who have visited this iconic place may want to preserve it in their memories.

The concept, however, is somewhat familiar even though Lake Como’s offering of bottled air is revolutionary. ItalyComunica got the idea from the native ones in Naples where some years people were already buying air in cans and also global markets like in Iceland and Canada where selling ‘fresh air’ as a souvenir is a common business. 

On the other hand, for the tourists having a visit to Lake Como, it is possible to lug back this offbeat souvenir rather than the expected ones. It might be an unusual memento but it certainly immortalizes—quite literally, the memory of—a beautiful location.