Norway turns Trump insult into a 5 million-view tourism push

Visit Norway’s updated public-toilet page drew 200,000 views since Monday; related social posts generated 5 million organic views so far, the tourism agency told Fast Company. The page is now Visit Norway’s most popular page in most countries.

President Donald Trump supplied the insult. At a rally in Michigan on October 25, he called Norway a “shithouse country,” criticized the country because he had not received the Nobel Peace Prize, and said he did not want immigrants from Norway.

Trump had previously used the disparaging term for Haiti, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the prize.

How did Visit Norway turn the insult into a campaign?

Visit Norway had maintained a web page about Norway’s public toilets for several years. It highlighted dramatic views and better-than-average design. Last week, the agency changed the headline to reference Trump’s comments and reshared the page. The revised headline says: “Norway makes shithouses great again!”

Visit Norway presents the page as a showcase for the world’s best toilets. It directs travelers to striking public accommodations along Norwegian Scenic Routes. The agency describes those routes as a collection of some of Norway’s 18 prettiest drives.

The mechanism is straightforward: controversy supplied reach, while the page supplied a concrete reason to explore the country. Instead of asking travelers to engage with a political dispute, Visit Norway gave them a list of distinctive places to see, photograph and use.

Which places anchor the page?

The Stegastein Lookout restroom looks over a fjord. Todd Saunders and Tommie Wilhelmsen designed it, and it won a Norwegian National Construction Prize.

At Ureddplassen, a seaside memorial designed by Haugen/Zohar Architects honors people killed on a Norwegian submarine by a German mine during World War II. Its wave-shaped building uses poured concrete and frosted-glass windows. The Telegraph has called it “the world’s most beautiful public loo.”

Visit Norway’s images accompanying the campaign show Madland Hamn, Eggum, Tungeneset, Allmannajuvet, Ostasteidn in Suldal and the Ropeid ferry quay. The Ropeid images feature “Mushrooms” furniture elements.

What makes a well-designed stop work?

Anne-Signe Fagereng, Visit Norway’s head of consumer marketing, said: “Along the Norwegian Scenic Routes, architecture and design are used deliberately to enhance the experience of traveling through some of Norway’s most dramatic landscapes.”

“Leading architects have designed rest stops, viewpoints, and public toilets that fit into the landscape. Many have won international architecture awards, and several have become attractions in their own right. Travelers come to see them, photograph them and, yes, use them,” Fagereng said.

She said a well-designed stop takes pressure off nature, makes remote areas accessible to everyone and turns a necessary break into part of the experience.

Visit Norway’s selected restrooms combine thoughtful architecture with prime locations. The rest area at Flesefossen waterfall meets that standard. At Skjervsfossen, restrooms have glass floors and windows overlooking a river. Fortunen designed that facility.

Oslo-based Snøhetta designed its service building at Kvalhausen as if it is coming out of the hill. That treatment makes the structure appear to emerge from the surrounding terrain, matching the agency’s emphasis on facilities that fit their settings.

Who runs Norwegian Scenic Routes?

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration, also known as Statens Vegvesen, runs Norwegian Scenic Routes. Fast Company compared that public investment with American truck stops, where users marvel at the cleanliness of bathrooms at chains such as Buc-ee’s and Maverick. Norway’s best public restrooms show what becomes possible when a government invests heavily in public services.

Is the page political advertising?

Visit Norway says the update is neither a political statement nor a broader criticism of anyone. The agency calls it destination marketing. That distinction keeps the message narrow: look at distinctive facilities and consider the landscapes around them.

The agency says it has received many positive messages from Americans saying they want to visit Norway. It also says Trump’s comments have put the rest stops on their to-do lists. The next test is whether that stated interest produces actual trips. For now, the measurable result is 200,000 page views, 5 million organic social views and many messages from prospective American visitors.