Submarine breaks the surface of a Milan STREET... in a clever marketing stunt that left bystanders completely baffled

 

The people of Milan awoke to find something a little strange yesterday morning.
Just off of Via dei Mercanti, near the heart of the old city, a submarine had apparently pushed its way through the paving stones and damaged a nearby car.
The road's shattered surface lay piled up around, with baffled firefighters looking on. Meanwhile, sailors clambered down from the lost submarine's tower to meet emergency crews at the scene.

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A little lost? A submarine appears to have surfaced from beneath a street in Milan in this scene which locals discovered as they got up for work yesterday morning

Shattered: An unfortunately placed Smart car has been caught up in the chaos of the scene, with its wheels trapped by the buckled asphalt

What's going on here, then? A sailor emerges from the submarine's tower to meet a firefighter climbing up its ladder

Incongruous surroundings: Confused passers-by glance up at the mammoth installation which appeared overnight, as others take photos from behind the fences

But where did it come from? The submarine emerged just off Via dei Mercanti, near the heart of Milan's busy old town

In case you haven't guessed already, it was, of course, an ambitious publicity stunt.
Workers for Europ Assistance IT, an insurance group based in Italy, had come to the street early in the morning to construct the fake submarine.
The installation was erected to promote the firm's 'Protect Your Life' campaign.

Tanay Tapas
PGDM