Venice

Has always been about commerce, commerce, commerce. Anyone who thinks otherwise is self-deluded. It's about busloads of Asian tourists descending on San Marco like so many locusts. It's about the African refugees spreading their blankets along the Grand Canal at dusk to hawk the knock-offs they're not allowed  to sell publicly in the daytime. Who knows, it may be about the purveyors of glass candy and masks concealing the (illegal) made-in-China origins of their wares.
Still, they have billboards now. It goes too far. Venice sells melancholy, not despair. Nobody will pay for despair. Not there. They have tarnished the brand. I am hoping they will come to their senses.