The beautiful city of Oslo has launched a very peculiar advertisement campaign to attract more tourists. Crafted by the city’s official marketing agency, Visit Oslo, the 1.46-minute-long video is jam-packed with dry humour and plays on reverse psychology to get the attention of viewers.
The clip opens with a begrudging Norwegian born and bred in Oslo dryly stating he “wouldn’t come here”, before asking whether the capital of Norway can even qualify as a city.
The man then proceeds to list all the qualities of the capital – despite playing them down – including the swimming spots in the middle of the city centre, its many museums and walkability.
Looking utterly frustrated at Oslo, he said: “Oslo feels more like a village, maybe? I mean, you walk around a corner and it’s like, ‘Oh, there is the Prime Minister’. And you walk around the next corner, and it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s the King.’
“You can just walk from one side of town to another in, like 30 minutes. Try that in New York or Paris.”
Indirectly poking fun at cities with restaurants, clubs and areas inaccessible to most people, the Norwegian said: “Everything is just so available, you know? There is no exclusiveness.”
During a different scene filmed at a restaurant, the protagonist of the video added: “Sometimes I just walk right in off the street and get a table. And I am not even famous. I mean, what does that tell you?
“I think a city should really play a little hard to get. It’s like a good relationship, you know? It’s not supposed to be easy.”
Highlighting the lack of long queues many tourists experience when heading to major museums in other cities, the grumbling man can be seen standing in front of Edward Munch’s The Scream with nobody around him. Referring to the crowd of tourists normally standing in front of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa at the Louvre, he added: “It’s not exactly the Mona Lisa.”
This catchy and unusual advert was released this week, as other major European cities are seen locals demanding a crackdown on tourism.
This spring, Venice introduced an entry ticket for daytrippers, while tens of thousands in the Canary Islands and Balearics have taken to the streets to demand a change in the current tourism model which is worsening their quality of life.