Rai TG1 3 features reports
354 media hits
47M potential audience
BARILLA Group
The Astronaut’s Pasta
From engineering challenge to universal story: Barilla pasta’s journey into space proved how Italian innovation can make you feel at home, even 400 km above Earth.
Rai TG1 3 features reports
354 media hits
47M potential audience
BARILLA Group
The Astronaut’s Pasta
From engineering challenge to universal story: Barilla pasta’s journey into space proved how Italian innovation can make you feel at home, even 400 km above Earth.
Al dente goes cosmic — and makes headlines!
We turned a technological challenge into a powerful media story, strengthening Barilla’s reputation as a bridge between tradition and the future. We transformed an iconic dish into a universal symbol, proving that pasta can make you feel at home, even in space. The moment astronauts shared Barilla fusilli aboard the ISS marked the peak of a story that generated over 350 media hits and reached more than 48 million people.
Challenge
Barilla took part in a historic space mission supporting the nomination of Italian cuisine for UNESCO heritage status. But the challenge was to place it at the heart of the news, crafting a story that would spark the collective imagination, capable of engaging both media and social audiences around the cultural and identity value of Italian cuisine: a heritage that constantly evolves and looks to the future.
Actions
We orchestrated a multi-phase communication plan, starting with an exclusive feature on TG1, which told the story of how the space-grade fusilli were developed in Barilla’s laboratories. The story organically gained traction across media and social platforms, building up to launch day, when the Minister of Agriculture appeared on camera proudly holding the pack of space-bound fusilli. However, the true highlight came from the astronauts themselves: Italian pasta created a genuine moment of connection aboard the ISS, proving its power to bring people together, no matter where they are, even 400 km above Earth.
Premi
The PRize 2025
Gold Award Media Relation category
The PRize 2025
Silver Award Food & Beverage category
