A pair of bold Ibiza entrepreneurs have come up with a way of making a bit of money by selling the island’s cheapest and most easily available commodity – air. “Aire de Ibiza” tin cans full of “pure and virgin” air cost just €5.90 ($6.5) and are apparently a big hit with tourists looking for special souvenirs.
Selling canned or bottled air isn’t exactly a new business idea. As far as we know, it all started in 2012, when Chinese billionaire Chen Guangbiao started selling cans of fresh air for about $0.80 a piece, as a way of raising awareness to the country’s air pollution problems. It wasn’t meant to be a real business venture, but it got people interested and before long, veritable bottled-air companies started popping out all across the globe. We even mentioned a few here on Oddity Central, like Vitality Air – a startup selling fresh Canadian air mainly to the Chinese market, Air de Montcuq – a company selling cans of fresh air from the French country side, or this group of Russian entrepreneurs selling air from Yeti’s cave.
But while the air cans sold by the companies mentioned above can be opened and savored, Aire de Ibiza tins are sealed shut on purpose, to prevent buyers from opening them. They are designed merely as souvenirs for tourists meant to bring back memories of their time on the island. While you’ll never be able to check for yourself, unless you’re willing to ruin the souvenir, the brilliant minds behind Aire de Ibiza claim that each can is filled with “100 percent pure air, no additives, made in Spain and gluten free”. The tongue-in-cheek description is a nice touch, but is it worth $6.5? Some people certainly don’t think so.
Gianluca Pomo and his friend José Antonio Fernández came up with the idea for Aire de Ibiza while walking through the Ibizan countryside on a day out with their families. “We realized how lucky we were and we decided to try and immortalize that moment,” Fernández told The Local. “We decided to seal the air in a container so that whenever you looked at it, you remembered that moment.”
Asked what makes Ibiza air so special, Fernández said it’s the purity. “The air in Ibiza is pure and virgin, and the air – as well as the moments you enjoy breathing it in – is unique.” But since you can’t open the cans to breathe the pure air, the two entrepreneurs admit that a bit of imagination is required to enjoy their product, and they even have some suggestions – “Close your eyes and breathe deeply, imagine blue like the colour of our sea. Remember the sensational light of our island, don’t forget our sunsets, give yourself space for your emotions, don’t abandon your dreams and live with optimism.”
His and Pomo’s marketing strategy seems to be working as the pair already report a lot of interest in their unusual souvenir, although some people don’t really get where their coming from. “There have been people who just think we’re pulling their leg,” they admit, “but generally it has been really well received.”
Talk about making money out of thin air…
Photos: Aire de Ibiza/Facebook
