Branding Medici-Style, No Need for Tiger Woods: Virginia Postrel
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July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Florentine authorities and residentswere appalled when the cast of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” invaded theTuscan capital for the show’s fourth season, which will debutAug. 4. What were Snooki and The Situation doing associatingthemselves with the refined city of Dante and Botticelli (not tomention Ferragamo)? Even New Jersey won’t claim these louts.
The ostensible idea was to pay homage to the cast members’Italian heritage. But these hyper-American descendants ofpeasants from Italy’s far southern regions hardly represent theFlorentine heritage of art, humanism and elegant style. Nicole“Snooki” Polizzi and Jennifer “JWoww” Farley aren’t even ofItalian descent. The cast’s Florence connection is quite astretch.