A Norwegiant tourism advertisement recently became popular after it presented Oslo as a small, quiet city lacking attractions. In the campaign, called “Is it even a city?” a fictional character named Halfdan wonders the same while traveling the capital.
The advertisement went viral online with over 525,000 views on YouTube and about 1.8 million views on TikTok. Media outlets around the world covered the campaign's success, calling it an "instant classic."
The reactions to the video are enthusiastic. "I think this is the best tourism commercial I’ve ever seen. And yes, it makes me want to visit Oslo," one user wrote on YouTube. Another commented: " Damn it, now Oslo has been added to the ever growing list of places I have to visit one day. Well played guys, well played."
The video opens with Halfdan saying, "I wouldn't come here, to be honest. Oslo is just not... I mean, is it even a city? You know what I mean? Everything is just so availiable, there's no exclusiveness. I grew up here, and I temporarily live here, unfortunately. I don't understand why people go swimming in the middle of the city, it's disgusting."
Then the disheartened city resident says that "Oslo feels more like a village maybe, you walk around a corner and it's like, 'Oh, there's the prime minister,' you go around the next corner, 'Oh, there's the king.' You can just walk from one side of the city to the other in like 30 minutes. Try that in New York or Paris."
In another scene, the Norwegian actor stands in front of a painting from the iconic "The Scream" series by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. "Culture? Oh, I don't know. If you don't have to stand in line for at least two hours, is it even worth seeing? Not exactly the Mona Lisa."
He concludes: "Sometimes I just walk right in off the street [into a restaurant] and get a table, and I'm not even famous, what does that tell you? I think a city should feel a little hard to get, it's like a good relationship, you know? It's not supposed to be easy."