Hey folks! Forget fridge magnets and postcards from your vacations. What if your next souvenir was a literal breath of fresh air? Well, that’s exactly what a company is offering with its ‘100% authentic air’ from Italy’s Lake Como, sealed in a can for €9.90 (about ₹900).
Yup! That’s right. Lake Como’s scenic allure now comes bottled up for you to inhale back home. It’s labelled as a luxurious souvenir, one you would struggle to find.
But let’s pause for a second and think. Is this genius or simply ridiculous? It’s funny to think of a “souvenir” that’s basically a puff of air. But isn’t there something poetic about bottling up fresh air and selling it as a luxury when clean air is becoming scarce? Maybe it’s a subtle commentary on the scarcity of clean air in our world today, a nod to the dystopian idea that we might one day need to buy every breath.
While Lake Como’s fresh air might seem like a gimmick, it also makes us wonder how this could evolve into something more. Could we soon see Himalayan air in cans sold in Delhi markets? A premium product for those tired of smoggy skies? We know it sounds absurd, but maybe a souvenir could transform into a business if our air quality continues to deteriorate. After all, we’re already doing it with water ― packing it up in bottles and selling it at a premium.
See, the act of capturing air in a can and labelling it as something worth buying says a lot about the nature of souvenirs and nostalgia it.