Denmark Tourism Video Sparks an Uproar

Posted by: Justin Bachman on September 16

Here’s an item for the “What Were They Thinking?!?” file. Danish tourism officials produced the following video, which they posted Sept. 10 on YouTube, telling the story of a woman named Karen and her 9-month old son, August. Karen says she’s making the video in hopes of tracking down the baby’s father with whom she had a fling while intoxicated.

“I was on my way home and I think you had lost your friends and then we decided to go down to the water to have a drink. And, yeah. That’s really embarrassing but that’s more or less what I remember. I don’t remember where you’re from … I don’t even remember your name.”

Needless to say, plenty of Danish people were offended by the idea that attractive, sexually available young women might be considered a useful lure to promote tourism to their nation. And then there’s the exploitation of a baby. And the notion that Denmark is populated by a promiscuous citizenry.

The country’s tourism agency, VisitDenmark removed the video on Monday but plenty of copies had already been made. “I regret any distress this film might have caused; it was not the intention of the movie,” VisitDenmark CEO Dorthe Kiilerich said in a statement distributed to media. “The aim was to create a positive awareness of Denmark and to increase dialogue about Denmark.” Interestingly, however, the video does not reference tourism or Denmark, save for mentioning that the unknown father was on vacation when Karen met him.

Sociologist Karen Sjoerup told The Associated Press that the ad suggested “you can lure fast, blonde Danish women home without a condom” and Denmark’s economy minister said the video portrayed “a not very well-thought-out picture of the country.” Bloggers had a field day. “Visit Denmark! Knock Somebody Up!” read a headline at the travel site, World Hum. “Land of the truly warm welcome,” added a wag at The Independent newspaper in London.