Swedes fool thirsty NorwegiansThe stereotype of the bargain-hunting Norwegian, the rivalry with their Swedish neighbors and April Fools' Day combined to create a wicked prank that left booze-craving Norwegians looking silly, Swedish newspaper Bohusläningen reports.RELATED ARTICLES Tourist council tries to fool Swedes - 01.04.03 Some Swedish practical jokers in the Strömstad area - noted for its booming border trade in meat, alcohol and other tempting items that are far cheaper than in Norway - set up a row of signs along the E6 near the Värmlands Bridge, the traffic artery used by Norwegian shoppers.The ten signs appeared in the official colors of Systembolaget, Sweden's state alcohol monopoly, and seemed to lead to their new drive-in store, which offered free taste tests and other bargains.The signs led gullible motorists around Strömstad, then south, before ending at a recycling plant in Österröd.Newspaper Bohusläningen reported traffic congestion at the recycling plant, and appeared to be amused by the joke on their shopping-crazy neighbors.
Tourist council tries to fool SwedesIt was April Fool's Day, and the Norwegian tourist council just couldn't resist poking some fun at their neighbors to the east... like trying to lure them to a holiday at "Playa Los Fjordos," where they could swim in fjords warmed up to tropical temperatures. Here's one of the ads that ran in Swedish newspapers on April 1.PHOTO: NORGES TURISTRÅD I SVERIGE RELATED ARTICLES Swedes fool thirsty Norwegians - 02.04.03 It remains unclear how many unsuspecting Swedes may fall for the joke, "but I hope they'll understand that we've done this in jest," Andreas Nasman, Norwegian tourist chief in Sweden, told newspaper Aftenposten.At issue were full-page ads placed in Sweden's biggest newspapers on April 1st that promoted some sensational news in the charter tour market: Norwegian researchers had succeeded in leading the Gulf Stream right into three Norwegian fjords. There, the water temperature had risen to a positively balmy 24C (75F).The ads, which featured full-color, scenic photos of a beach along a fjord and happy tourists in swimsuits, went on to claim that researchers at the Institute for Climate Studies at the University of Bergen found that the fjord areas now have the same number of hours with sunshine as the Canary Islands and Thailand.Their findings, according to the tourist council, created completely new possibilities for Norwegian tourism. New hotels were under construction, and some fjord towns were changing their names. Molde, for example, was now being called Costa del Molde, while tropical fruit trees were being planted in Rio de Hardanger."We figured maybe some of the Swedish readers would forget what day it was," said Nasman.Scandinavian media has a long tradition of pulling off April Fool's reports. This year, jokes included reports in a Bergen newspaper that Ari Behn, a one-hit-wonder author who married Princess Martha Louise last year, would open Bergen's annual cultural festival in May since the king and queen can't come.Newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad reported that a local lottery agency would hand out unclaimed cash prizes, while Dagens Naeringsliv's web site claimed tycoon Kjell Inge Roekke was negotiating the sale of his palatial mountain "cabin" with hotel chains.
