President Donald Trump called Norway a “shit country” after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Norwegian tourism officials decided to take this as a compliment.
Visit Norway, the Scandinavian country’s tourism board, responded to Trump’s insult with a cheeky campaign celebrating its spectacular public restrooms and declaring that Norway has made “the dumpster great again”.
The event showcases some of the most architecturally impressive toilets in the country, many of which are located on scenic routes overlooking fjords, mountains and waterfalls. Some have even won international design awards.
Trump made the insult at a campaign rally in Port Huron, Miss., on Sunday while complaining about the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to international jurist Navi Pillay earlier this month.
“Norway has actually become a shit country,” Trump told supporters. He also stated that he no longer wanted Norwegian immigrants to come to the United States because he had not received the award.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by Norway’s independent commission, not the country’s government.
Rather than get involved in the diplomatic spat, Tourism Norway embraced the president’s description and promoted the toilets, including the award-winning Stegastein viewing toilet, a triangular golden toilet overlooking Aurlandsfjord and the island of Senja.
The agency repurposed materials originally developed for World Toilet Day on 19 November.
The tourism industry has been an unexpected success.
According to travel publication Skift, Visit Norway’s toilet page attracted more than 80,000 views from more than 170 countries in five days, with visits surging to more than 540 times the previous week. About a quarter of the visitors are Americans.
The tourism agency spent less than $10,000 promoting the event, and about 90 percent of the traffic arrived organically. Advertisements are also planned for Times Square this weekend.
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The campaign marks a reversal from Trump’s first term, when he disparaged Haiti and African countries as “shithole countries” while expressing a preference for immigrants from Norway.
Now, Norway is making the most of its presidential campaign, inviting visitors to answer the call of nature by exploring some of the world’s most scenic places.
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About Trump and the Nobel Peace Prize