Campaign: Sweden defends itself humorously against confusion with Switzerland
Sweden and Switzerland are apparently often confused with one another around the world. The tourism organization Visit Sweden is bothered by this—and has launched an advertising campaign to remedy the situation. Switzerland Tourism is taking it in stride—after all, Switzerland is unmistakable anyway.
"Welcome to Sweden (not Switzerland)" is the title of the video shared on social networks by the Swedish tourism marketer Visit Sweden. As Visit Sweden shared, both are beautiful countries and have the same first letters in German and English.
But that should be enough common ground if the Swedes have their way. Every year, 120,000 people would even Google the question of whether Sweden and Switzerland are the same. In the U.S., a study by Visit Sweden found that half of those surveyed weren't sure if there was a difference.
In the Visit Sweden video, a woman dressed in what appears to be official attire addresses the Swiss directly in front of two Swedish flags. She proposes a treaty according to which each country concentrates on its core competencies.
Accordingly, the Swiss yodel to their hearts' content in their mountains, while deep silence reigns in Sweden's majestic nature. And while time is forgotten in Sweden, Switzerland builds luxurious timepieces.
No danger of confusion from a Swiss point of view!
In response to a query from the Keystone-SDA news agency, Switzerland Tourism said guests would not confuse Switzerland with destinations with similar names or with other Alpine destinations. As a matter of principle, it does not comment on the advertising activities of other tourism organizations. However, Switzerland Tourism is pleased about "other humorous tourism advertising".
Visit Sweden, the company in charge of Swedish tourism marketing, maintained that it would contact its Swiss counterparts. Sweden does not mind being confused with Switzerland from time to time. But it would be worthwhile to clear up the confusion. (sda)
