Name: Oslo.
Age: About 1,000 years old.
Appearance: Not all that.
What do you mean, “not all that”? I don’t know – it’s OK, I guess.
Isn’t it nestled in a dramatic Norwegian landscape featuring steep forested hills and a fjord? Yeah. It’s great if you like that sort of thing.
And hasn’t it been named one of the best cities to visit in the world? One of the 10 best, back in 2018.
Isn’t it also famously one of Europe’s most livable cities? Probably.
And isn’t there a huge Edvard Munch museum there? Sure.
You’re not really selling it, to be honest. Am I not? I thought I was.
No, you’re actually putting me off going. I was only trying to invoke the dry understatement of Oslo’s latest tourism advert.
Dry understatement? In a tourism ad? I know, weird. But that’s what they’ve gone for.
What’s the ad like? It features a thirtysomething Oslo resident named Halfdan. “I wouldn’t come here, to be honest,” he says. “I mean, is it even a city?”
It’s the capital of Norway, isn’t it? Yes, but for Halfdan, Oslo is just too village-like: “You walk around the corner, and it’s like: ‘Oh, there’s the prime minister.’ Then you walk around the next corner and it’s like: ‘Oh, there’s the king.’”
I can see how that would eventually get annoying. Also, in Oslo, there are no proper crowds at the museums and galleries, and you don’t have to queue for restaurants. “Everything is just so available,” says Halfdan disdainfully. “I think a city should feel a little hard to get.”
I’m beginning to detect the dry understatement. Finally.
So really, he’s subtly pointing out Oslo’s many attractions by mischaracterising them as drawbacks. It’s maybe not as subtle as you think, but yes.
And is that really working? It seems to be: the ad has racked up 2m views on X/Twitter in just two days.
But are tourists actually flocking to Oslo because of it? It’s only been two days – give them a chance.
It still seems odd to pitch yourself as a tourist destination by saying: no one comes here. Maybe not. Popular tourist cities such as Venice, Barcelona and Tokyo are suffering from over-tourism, with hordes of visitors despoiling the very thing they’ve come to see.
Do say: “Come to Oslo. Or don’t. Whatever.”
Don’t say: “But if you do come, bring a lot of money, because it’s super expensive.”