Sweden(Not Switzerland): Viral Video Aims to End Sweden-Switzerland Mix-Up

Foreign media outlets like Forbes reported that the Swedish Tourism Board had launched a campaign to prevent confusion between Sweden and Switzerland.

The Swedish Tourism Board surveyed to understand people’s perceptions of the two countries. The survey results revealed that out of every 2 American respondents, 1 person had mistakenly booked a trip confusing Sweden with Switzerland.

Last year, U.S. President Joe Biden mistakenly referred to Sweden as Switzerland in his speech at the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit.

But it’s not just the Americans.. 1 out of 10 Britons think Sweden and Switzerland are the same countries, and about 30% wrongly believe that global pop group ABBA and global furniture company IKEA are from Switzerland.

Furthermore, according to Swiss public media Swissinfo, about 120,000 people search “Are Sweden and Switzerland the same?” on Google every year.

In response, the Swedish Tourism Board took extraordinary measures. On the 24th, they released a campaign video on YouTube explaining the differences between Sweden and Switzerland. The video has garnered over 380,000 views in just 8 days since its release. The title of the video is “Sweden(Not Switzerland).” Through this video, the Swedish Tourism Board conveyed the unique charm of Sweden that distinguishes it from Switzerland.

The video mentions that while Switzerland is one of the largest gold-holding countries in the world, Sweden has ‘Forest Gold.’ This is because people in Sweden have a culture of digging for golden mushrooms that shine like gold every fall. Furthermore, they suggested that if you prefer walking on the beach, you should visit Sweden. The video humorously added that while Switzerland has banks, Sweden has sandbanks, referring to their beaches. The video also mentioned that Sweden has a coastline of about 30,000 miles and 100,000 lakes.

By. Gu So Jung