Our posters have made advertising history since 1877
7 November 2024
The scene unfolds against a deep purple backdrop: a young woman in the prime of her beauty pours gold from a cornucopia, surrounded by ears of corn.
This description could easily evoke a masterpiece, one of the many that grace museums and captivate us during our visits. In a way, it is indeed a work of art.
What we’ve depicted is actually an image from a daily calendar created in 1923 by the Bologna-born artist Emma Bonazzi, entitled L'oro di Semèle (Semèle's Gold), in which the young goddess pours not just any gold, but the gold of our pasta.
Drawing inspiration from the forms of the great master Gustav Klimt and the spirit of Art Deco, L'oro di Semèle stands as an extraordinary testament to our love for art and our desire to express our best selves. These passions have been integral to our identity, nurtured with commitment and dedication since our inception.
AT THE TOP SINCE 1877
The Wall Street stock market crash, the Great Depression, an unprecedented crisis that turned everyone's lives upside down: the 1930s marked a new setback for the entire world and suggested the need for a return to basics.
In this challenging climate, our fruitful collaboration with Parma artist Giuseppe Venturini led to the creation of Pasta sul Pentagramma (Pasta on the Stave) in 1938, an advertising poster founded on the principle of simplicity. Venturini arranged our butterflies and rigatoni as musical notes on a blue score, creating a dance that conveys our truest value: a deep love for pasta.
It was also Giuseppe Venturini who, in the 1940s, helped us design one of our most iconic posters, which has come to symbolise the hope and trust that have always inspired us. At the top since 1877 features a vibrant, avant-garde hot-air balloon with two figures: one greeting the present, eager to leave the war years behind, while the other gazes into the future, ready to embrace what lies ahead.
ERBERTO CARBONI’S INHERITANCE
When you mention Barilla, you inevitably think of Erberto Carboni. The name of this esteemed architect and designer is deeply intertwined with our brand, extending well beyond the history of the Blue Box.
Between the 1950s and 1960s, Carboni created several memorable communication pieces for us, most notably the groundbreaking 1952 poster entitled La pasta del buon appetito (Good appetite pasta). In this work, he celebrates the dawn of a new, more optimistic era, playing with shapes and compositions to elevate our pasta into a sublime object, suspended in time and space, serving as a reminder that food is a bridge between art and everyday life.
Then, suddenly, pasta disappears in the new Dov’è la pasta? (Where's the pasta?) campaign, exemplified by the famous posters Cinque Zuppiere (Five Tureens) and Vera pasta all’uovo (Real Egg Pasta), Carboni understands that there is no longer a need to display the product. Instead, he challenges consumers to guess the presence of our pasta, which has already been imprinted in their imagination.
At the 1956 International Exhibition of Preserves and Packaging, Carboni's brilliance culminated in a three-dimensional totem made entirely of our pasta packaging, adorned with ovals bearing our logo, achieving a perfect harmony of lines and shapes.
WHERE THERE'S BARILLA THERE’S HOME
Lucio Fontana tore open the canvas to transcend the constraints of two-dimensionality and explore the depths of space. He was followed by the duo of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who wrapped objects, from the Reichstag in Berlin to the Porta Pinciana in Rome, to emphasise their presence and, in doing so, enhance their beauty.
In 1995, the Pasta fatta ad arte (Pasta made like art) campaign, curated by the renowned agency YOUNG & RUBICAM, saw our Blue Boxes echo the gestures of these great artists, depicted either packaged or carved in the posters. The message, delivered with both irony and sensitivity, is clear: making pasta the way we do is a form of art.
Then, throughout the 1990s, YOUNG & RUBICAM created a series of tender family portraits in blue –our blue. A little girl writing with a pen, a couple sharing a passion for fusilli, young newlyweds celebrating their love under a cascade of Sicilian rings and orecchiette... our pasta, with its golden hue, serves as the sole splash of colour. Each portrait features a simple yet powerful sentence that needs no introduction: Where there's Barilla there's home.
DESIGNER WHEATS
Cucinare è un’arte (Cooking is an Art) is not only a belief we hold dear but also the title of our collaboration with artist Olimpia Zagnoli who, in 2018, helped us create a special box for our Spaghetti N.5 to commemorate the Pasta World Championship – a unique cooking competition organised by Academia Barilla. Like miniature posters, the Spaghetti boxes were filled with vibrant colours and intricate shapes, serving as a bridge between visual art and the art of pasta making.
Even in 2021, during another challenging period for the world, we continued to invest in art and beauty by launching the Grani d’autore (Designer Wheats) initiative. The project involved eleven Italian artists who helped us celebrate and illustrate our Manifesto del Grano Duro Barilla (Durum Wheat Manifesto) depicting the remarkable journey of this precious raw material through our supply chain, all under the themes of responsibility and sustainability.
With the experience we have gained, we can now look to the future with renewed awareness: art enriches our lives with beauty, especially during the most challenging times, which is why we will continue to nurture it by producing food of the highest quality and investing in communication that places art at the forefront.
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