Wednesday 17 March 2010

About italian BrainDrain and commercial

Considering my future stage at EuRadioNantes, I have to get used to tell people about Italy and to try explaining how things work, and why such weird things happen there. So let's practise a little.
A couple of weeks ago i stumbled upon an interesting commercial.

It was about an Italian researcher working in the US.
(follows the translation of the Italian commentary)



The narrator tells this story: "Claudio, 33 years-old, graduated with honors with a PhD at the University of Los Angeles, where he is still working. Everybody knows that the US is the best for bio-medical research. But, this is not enough for Claudio, because what he really wants is to bring everything he has learnt to Italy and to his city."

Back to Italy, it follows a dialogue with his colleague in the lab:
- "It's wonderful, it seems to be in America!" (expression coming from the "American Dream" culture)
C:"You know what? It's even better!"
-"I'm happy you're back"
C:"Hey, chill out, we are just at the beginning"
-"Yeah, but what a beginning!"

Then again the narrator, while Claudio's girlfriend make him a sorpresa (surprise): "Will Claudio manage to realize his dream? We still don't know, but what matters is that there are a lot of stories like his."
And the final slogan says: "There's a piece Italy that is struggling to realize its dreams. We are by its side"

At this point I expected to see the governmental signature at the end. But no, it is signed by Intesa San Paolo, a bank. Besides the general pathetic style of the add, I actually got quite offended. The professor at the university tells Claudio he's very brave going back to Italy, that means that people who decided to leave Italy are all coward? Well...i don't think so.
We have a great debate about brain drain in Italy nowadays, and people are quite split between those who think that there's no point in staying there, because Italy can't offer a future to young people, so it is better to go abroad where skills are still rewarded.
On the contrary, others affirm that skilled people should stay to fight to change the things.
Pessimists and Optimists...
Personally I'm not that confident that the things will or can change any soon. And I get more and more convinced just listening to the news day after day.
This ad confirms the inner hypocrisy of the country, once again. Because the bank says to be on Claudio's side, but what about when he will need to ask for a loan to buy a house for and his american girlfriend and himself? I know, they will look at his monthly wage that amounts to 1000 euros, and they will laugh in his face.
This commercial is not pathetic, rather disgusting.

E.

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