The Fairytale of Favola

Salumificio Mec Palmieri and Armando Testa Torino tell us the “Tale of Favola” through stop motion.

In 1997, Carlo Palmieri, in San Prospero, a town in the province of Modena, turned his passion for cured meats into something extraordinary: he invented the first mortadella stuffed and cooked in natural pigskin.

Now, this true story becomes a fairytale. In fact, it became the “Fairytale of Favola,” because that’s what the mortadella was called.

The story is told in the most magical way by the third and fourth generations of the Palmieri family and the Armando Testa Torino agency, who saw the potential for a beautiful narrative in this true story.

To celebrate its essence, a completely different visual style was chosen, one that recovered the technique of “step one” — a frame-by-frame technique that requires precision, attention, and time, just like the production of mortadella itself. This stylistic choice highlights the value of craftsmanship and things made with love.

The Palmieri family’s interest in animation and this technique met the historic vocation of Armando Testa for visual imagination and the artisanal language of frame-by-frame. From this synergy, a short film was created with more of a cinematic flavor than a classic commercial, produced by AT Studios and directed by DaDomani for design and direction.

The story, envisioned as a format that could have additional episodes, comes to life from a book where the pages are slices of soft and fragrant mortadella. We then enter San Prospero and meet Grandpa Carlo and his “obsession”: to make mortadella even better. In his workshop, he selects the finest meats, measures the most precious ingredients, sews a natural pigskin casing like it’s a magic garment, halts the cooking time, and finally brands his creation with fire. Thus, a mortadella is born that is so unique it is called “a Fairytale.”

The new spot dedicated to Mortadella Favola will be on air from December 21st in TV formats 30”/15” and on the radio, and from December 25th, it will be in cinemas with the 45” version.