Norway Launches Viral Toilet Campaign in Response to Trump’s 'Shithouse' Remark
The state tourism agency promoted scenic public restrooms after the president called the country a shithouse during a Michigan rally.
By Kendra Wilson ·
Norway’s state tourism agency released a guide to the country’s most scenic public restrooms this week in direct response to President Donald Trump. The campaign, titled 'Norway makes shithouses great again,' follows Trump’s Sunday comments at a political rally in Port Huron, Michigan, where he referred to Norway as a 'shithouse country.'
The remarks come amid a long-standing tension between the U.S. president and the Norwegian Nobel Committee regarding the Peace Prize. Trump has frequently expressed a desire to receive the award while doubting the committee would grant it. His criticism intensified earlier this month after the prize went to international jurist Navi Pillay.
Visit Norway, the state-run agency, leveraged existing content created for World Toilet Day, which occurs on November 19. The social media lead for the agency, Evgenia Egorova, told The Associated Press that the team repurposed the material with delight. She noted the public reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.
Egorova said, 'When life gives you lemons or quotes like this, you just do the lemonade and all the viral content.' The agency’s social media post acknowledged the 'noise' about the country's reputation and highlighted the architectural quality of its facilities.
The featured restrooms are not standard public conveniences. Many are architectural structures that have won international awards. They offer views of Norwegian fjords, mountains, and the Northern Lights. One example is the free toilet at the Stegastein viewpoint, which sits on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Aurlandsfjord.
The Stegastein facility features a large window that allows users to see the landscape while preventing outsiders from looking in. DesignCurial ranked this specific toilet number one on its list of the world's 10 best public toilets in 2015. Another stop on the list is the 'Gulldassen,' or Golden Toilet, on Senja Island. Built in 2014, the triangular structure has become a popular rest stop for tourists.
The timing echoes previous incidents involving gold toilets and U.S. politics. A golden toilet was installed on the National Mall earlier this year by a resistance art group to protest Trump’s White House renovations. During his first term, the Guggenheim Museum’s chief curator jokingly offered to lend an 18-karat solid gold toilet titled 'America' to the First Family. The artwork, created by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, was later stolen in 2019 from Blenheim Palace in the U.K.
Two thieves were convicted last year in connection with the Blenheim Palace heist. However, the one-of-a-kind latrine has never been recovered. The current Norwegian campaign continues to circulate online as a lighthearted rebuttal to the president's recent rhetoric.
Source: WKMG-TV
