by Christian Benna
From the mayor to the workers to the unions, everyone is rallying around Alessandra Balocco, CEO of the company, who led the solidarity campaign in the days of the tragic death of her brother Alberto
Just over a year ago, “cursed” lightning struck 56-year-old Alberto Balocco, president and CEO, while on a bike ride. Today the media storm is overwhelming the Piedmontese company following the intervention of the Cartel Office in the “Pink Christmas” solidarity campaign in collaboration with Chiara Ferragni: “It wasn't real charity but unfair business practices”, with a total fine of 1.4 million. Fossano, the Piedmontese community of 24,000 inhabitants, capital of the Panettone district (in addition to Balocco there is also Maina), is now really shaking. Fearing that the negative publicity that exploded at Christmas (which accounts for a third of sales) could be reflected not only in thousands of snarky comments on social media: “We will never buy one of your panettones again,” but also in a catastrophic decline in sales, turnover and therefore employment.
From that Mayor of Fossano Dario Tallone to the unions and workersnow everyone is trying to find their way Alessandra Balocco, Alberto's sister and current CEO of the company, who led the solidarity campaign with the influencer star during the days of grief and dramatic corporate change. “I don’t know what happened, but this is a healthy and solid company It employs 300 families and, among other things, he does a lot for charity without telling anyone,” says the heated mayor Dario Tallone, who hopes that the stir will end as quickly as possible. Three thousand panettoni are donated every year to the Regina Margherita Hospital, other sweets are donated to retirement homes and associations for disabled children. In Fossano everyone talks «the other charity» the family does it and does it without any advertising.
The cooperation with Ferragni probably got out of hand and the influencer's team had the final say on the communication, the cartel office claims, but no one in the area questions the company's good faith. The unions are also on Balocco's side: “We are talking about a company that also gives performance bonuses to seasonal workers, and we are talking about a thousand euros more in salary.” “There were more companies of this type,” says Alessandro Borello from Fai Cisl Cuneo, the company's first union.
“The difference between being good and being good is doing,” reads the company’s statement, which was turned into a hashtag (#be good), when Balocco entered the golden world of influencers on the Internet. “Mr Balocco” which accompanied the advertising of the company founded in 1927, is still there but has changed its face. The actor Cosimo Cinieri has been embodying his role on television for a long time, and now also on social media accounts; since 2017 there has been a voice actor from Turin, Aldo Stella. Precisely in order to “rejuvenate the image”, as the Cartel Office claims in the justification of the fine of 1.4 million against the companies Ferragni and Balocco for unfair business practices, the company decided to work with the Milanese influencer last year. despite the high fee, more than one and a half million euros. This was announced by Alessandra Balocco, who has legal training and is actually a lawyer and is considered an attentive and careful entrepreneur will challenge the antitrust decision.
It is not the first time that Balocco, which has 204 million in sales and 7.4 million in profit, has carried out solidarity campaigns. Balocco has been contracting Panettoni for research work since 2018 Veronesi Foundation which supports a research scholarship. The Cartel Office claims that the campaign with Ferragni instead implied that the panettone sold would finance the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin, while the donation of 50,000 euros had already been made before and there was no connection between the sale of the panettone and a charity. Now Chiara Ferragni He decided to take a step back and a step forward, he apologized for “the mistake he made” by donating “one million euros to Regina Margherita”. The next post will probably be Mr. Balocco's.
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December 18, 2023 (modified December 19, 2023 | 06:44)
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