Ricerc@Sapienza

This article represents the first output of research on the communication campaign for “Fertility Day” that was launched by the Italian Ministry of Health in 2016. In front of a theme considered “sensitive” like that of couples fertility, discursive strategies, thematic frames, and the informative material distributed by the Ministry were at the center of an articulated dispute by audiences connected via social media and through creative-performative piazza protest by activist groups.

The public communication campaign about «Fertility Day», promoted by the Italian Ministry of Health in August 2016, aimed at raising citizens’ awareness on the issue of couple fer- tility. Ministry intended to involve the audiences connected via social media with informal and irreverent viral images and claims oriented to preserve fertility. Nevertheless, unexpect- edly, the messages themselves turned into the target of an extensive and articulated pro- test.