If you happen to be in Italy this September 22nd make sure to mark your calendar. It is very first National Fertility Day, and it’s having a whole lot of teething problems.
The country’s Health Minister’s launched the initiative last week in a bid to up Italian birth rates which are in decline.
And if you are not already offended about the notion of making babies on demand, hang in there, it gets so much worse.
A series of 12 campaign images have now gone viral for ALL the wrong reasons; One has a picture of a woman holding an hour-glass with the caption “Beauty has no age, but fertility does”. Another, shows a banana skin turning brown says “Male fertility is much more vulnerable than you think” according to Quartz
The campaign was the Italian Governments way of attempting to deal with its low birth rate. Data shows that in 2015 there were 488 thousand live births – that’s 15 thousand fewer than the previous year and the fifth consecutive year of reduction in fertility.
Italian women have described the ads as ‘insulting’. Many took to twitter to criticise their Government for not providing the infrastructure needed to support working mums and young families.
Meanwhile, publications around the world have weighed in, with Fortune Magazine describing it as “a sexist mess.”
What do you think Ladies? Join our conversation and let us know your take on it!
