Norway praised for “best tourism commercial” ever
A Norwegian tourism company has been praised after their no nonsense tourism ad for capital city Oslo went viral.
Visit Oslo shared their new ad campaign that features local 31-year-old Halfdan, who shares all the noteworthy things about his home city.
Opening the video, Halfdan bluntly says, “I wouldn’t come here, to be honest.”
He goes on to touch on how easy Oslo is to navigate, the uniqueness of the city, how easy it is to explore and how delicious the food is, with a unique style of delivery.
“You can just walk from one side of town to the other in like 30 minutes – try that in New York or Paris,” he says.
He visits a museum and adds, “If you don’t have to stand in line for a couple of hours is it even worth seeing?”
Addressing the camera in front of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s famous ‘The Scream’, Halfdan deadpanned, saying it is “not exactly the Mona Lisa”.
When discussing Oslo’s dining culture, Halfdan complains, “Sometimes I just walk right in off the street and get a table, and I’m not even famous. I mean what does that tell you?”
The new ad, which launched in June, was led by director August Jorfald, who believes more tourists want authenticity rather than just taking pictures at iconic landmarks.
“I don’t want Disney World. I want to be at someone’s kitchen table and drink wine from a milk glass,” he told BBC.
The video, which has racked up hundreds of thousands of views across social media channels, has been praised by many with one person saying the video “Might’ve been the best tourism ad I’ve ever seen.”
Another comment described the video as “a masterpiece in reverse psychology”, while others said they had booked their flights to the city after seeing the ad.
“I think this is the best tourism commercial I’ve ever seen. And yes, it makes me want to visit Oslo,” read one top comment attracting thousands of likes in support.
“Norwegian humour is on another level,” said another.
“By far the best bit of marketing I’ve seen in a long while. Give them a raise! Oh wait it’s Norway, they’re already paid properly,” quipped someone else.
Image credits: Visit Oslo