Italy's health minister, Beatrice Lorenzin, recently launched the campaign, which is intended to fight the country's failing birth rate by convincing Italian couples to have more children.

Minister Lorenzin announced that a series of state-sponsored events promoting parenthood will take place during Italy's first "Fertility Day," which will be held on September 22. The quite controversial initiative was officially launched with the release of a set of promotional images as well as a website and online game.

Embarrassing campaign

What were the results of such a mobilization? Well, the campaign did immediately go viral — but for all the wrong reasons.

The promotional images — which include slogan such as "Beauty has no age. Fertility does." — have been perceived as having a threatening tone towards women, and they are, in the words of author Roberto Saviano, "an insult to all: those who are not able to conceive, and to those who would like to, but do not have jobs."

According to writer and radio host Giulia Blasi, the campaign is deeply offensive and sexist, as it "treats all women as little more than walking incubators."

'Reconsidered'

After the campaign set off heavy criticism on social media for appearing to blame women for putting off child-bearing (and thus grossly misunderstanding the causes of the country's failing birth rate), Prime Minister Matteo Renzi distanced himself from the initiative and Lorenzin has said the promotional images are going to be "reconsidered."

Let's hope this is the last we hear about this embarrassing campaign.