Vaffancola Introduced in Italy to Pay Homage to Beppe Grillo's “F*ck Off” Day- September 8.

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Note the serendipitous slight difference between the Italian crude swear word of "Vaffanculo" and the new cola named "Vaf Fan Cola"  

 

The new Italian Cola pays homage to Beppe Grillo's an Italian activist, comedian, and actor, a distinctly Italian combination of Michael Moore and Stephen Colbert.  who has declared war on crooked politics in Italy. Grillo declared the 8th of September to be a new unofficial Italian holiday called V-Day (Vaffanculo or F*ck Off Day), motivating some two million people in two hundred and twenty cities across Italy (and many abroad) to celebrate V-Day as an unofficial new national holiday.

Grillos purpose in staging the highly successful V-Day event was that of persuading Italians to sign a petition calling for the introduction of a Bill of Popular Initiative to remove members of the Italian Parliament who have criminal convictions of any kind from their office. (At present there are twenty-four convicted criminals currently serving as senators and representatives in the Italian parliament, or as Italian representatives in the European Parliament).

Vaffancola

06 Jul 08

This mornings online edition of La Repubblica  brings the humorous announcement of a new soft drink thats growing in popularity in the Eternal City. Called Vaffancola and flavored with coconut (the same small producer makes a classic cola version, we wonder if the drink is an homage to Beppe Grillo and his famous V-Days?

If youve not been keeping up with Italys numerous protests and political problems over the past year or so, heres what you need to know to understand the relationship between this strangely named soda and Beppe Grillo:  Grillo, an Italian activist, comedian, and actor,  has declared war on crooked politics in Italy.   As part of his spirited protest against corruption in Italian society, he writes one of the worlds most read blogs (in which hes dubbed Berlusconi the psycho-dwarf) and last year, he declared the 8th of September to be a new unofficial Italian holiday called V-Day (Vaffanculo  or F*ck Off Day), motivating some two million people in two hundred and twenty cities across Italy (and many abroad) to celebrate V-Day as an unofficial new national holiday.

Grillos purpose in staging the highly successful V-Day event was that of persuading Italians to sign a petition calling for the introduction of a Bill of Popular Initiative to remove members of the Italian Parliament who have criminal convictions of any kind from their office. (At present there are twenty-four convicted criminals currently serving as senators and representatives in the Italian parliament, or as Italian representatives in the European Parliament).

If youre interested, its well worth reading Tom Muellers Letter from Italy, published in the New Yorker  in Feburary 2008. Mueller calls Grillo a distinctly Italian combination of Michael Moore and Stephen Colbert. And, on these hot summer days in Rome, youll want to keep your eye out for a refreshing Vaffancola.

 

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