A tourism ad in which a city resident explains why it is not worth visiting brought Visit Oslo more than 25 million organic views in 2024. Its main character, Halfdan, could not understand why anyone would come to the Norwegian capital: the city is too small, easy to get around, and its cultural attractions and good restaurants are accessible without much effort. In his complaints, audiences recognised exactly what they might want from a trip.
Two years later, Halfdan returns in the campaign It’s Totally Even a City, launched on October 9, with which Visit Oslo aims to attract visitors during the colder months. His opinion of the city has not improved, but the way he expresses it has changed: he now sings. Bankers commuting to work on skis and children taking over parks with their sleds become reasons to grumble in a Christmas musical with elements of horror.
For the agency NewsLab, the return of a recognisable character raised the question of how much of the first campaign should be repeated. The agency’s managing director, Linn Isaksen, explains that the unexpected was precisely what made the original successful, so the same ad with a winter backdrop was not a good enough answer. The musical sequel allowed Halfdan to retain his character while giving audiences something they had not expected from him.
His first appearance, in the campaign Is It Even a City?, was built on a simple misunderstanding between the character and the viewers. What Halfdan considered shortcomings, from a city that is easy to explore to accessible cultural attractions and restaurants, sounded like perfectly good reasons to visit. The ad accumulated more than 25 million organic views across platforms and won a Silver Lion at Cannes Lions.
Audiences wanted more Halfdan, says Thea Gunnes, head of communications and marketing at Visit Oslo. The new task was to showcase the city in a season that is traditionally harder to sell to tourists, with the humour, understatement and affection for Oslo that made them love the first ad.
Halfdan’s grumbling also follows visitors onto the campaign’s official website. There, they are greeted by his reluctant recommendations for museums, restaurants, concerts and saunas, along with the song’s lyrics for those who want to sing along with him. The joke thus continues as visitors choose what they might see and do in the city.
