Norway found humour in an insult this week — and turned it into a tourism campaign that went viral. After former US President Donald Trump insulted Norway, Visit Norway responded by promoting architect-designed public restrooms along the country’s scenic routes, in a campaign titled “Norway makes shithouses great again!”
The response was noted in a daily news summary for November 1, which recorded that the campaign drew overwhelmingly positive reactions. It is a classic example of a tourism board refusing to take the bait in the expected way: instead of a stiff rebuttal or silence, Norway answered with a joke about its own infrastructure — and its own spectacular scenery.
Why the joke worked
Norway’s scenic routes are famous for their design-led rest stops, viewpoints and restrooms, built by architects to blend into dramatic landscapes of fjords, mountains and coastline. Promoting them is not a stretch; it is a genuine attraction, presented with a wink. The campaign title borrows a famous slogan and redirects it at something gloriously mundane, which is exactly why people shared it.
The response also fits a pattern in modern public diplomacy: humour travels further than outrage. A formal statement would have been reported once and forgotten. A toilet joke with beautiful photography gets screenshotted, shared and remembered — and it sends viewers straight to images of Norway’s scenery, which is the entire point of a tourism campaign.
The wider context of the week
The same November 1 summary recorded a difficult week elsewhere in Europe, including violence in Frankfurt late on October 31 after largely peaceful protests, with around 100 arrests, looting and fires on the Zeil shopping street. Against that backdrop, Norway’s light-hearted response stood out precisely because it was light — a reminder that not every provocation deserves a heavy answer, and that a country confident in its scenery can afford to laugh.
Visit Norway’s campaign will not settle any political argument. It was never meant to. It was meant to be shared, and on that measure — overwhelmingly positive reactions and a viral weekend — it has already succeeded.
