By Fatma Younis
Norway's state-run tourism agency Visit Norway has launched a viral campaign highlighting the country's most spectacular public toilets in response to U.S. President Donald Trump calling Norway a "shithouse country" during a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday.
Trump's repeated criticism of Norway
Trump's remarks came ahead of the U.S. midterm elections and followed the Nobel Peace Prize award to international jurist Navi Pillay earlier this month. The president has previously expressed frustration that the Norwegian Nobel Committee has not awarded him the prize. In 2018, Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as "shithole countries" while saying he would prefer immigrants from countries like Norway, but he has since soured on Oslo over the peace prize controversy.
Visit Norway claps back with humor
Visit Norway's campaign, marketed as "Norway makes shithouses great again," features a guide to award-winning toilets set against stunning landscapes. The agency posted on social media: "So, we heard some noise about 's...house country.' What can we say, we do have some of the world's most beautiful and spectacular toilets."
Architectural marvels with views
The free toilets at the Stegastein viewpoint sit on a cliff edge overlooking the Aurlandsfjord, with a one-way window for privacy. DesignCurial rated it the world's best public toilet in 2015. The list also includes the "Gulldassen" (Golden Toilet) on Senja Island, a triangular restroom built in 2014 that has become a popular tourist stop.
History of golden toilet protests
The campaign echoes past golden toilet controversies involving Trump. A resistance art group installed a golden toilet on the National Mall earlier this year to protest White House renovations. During Trump's first term, the Guggenheim Museum offered the First Family an 18-karat solid gold toilet titled "America" by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan instead of a requested Van Gogh painting. That artwork was later stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019; two thieves were convicted last year but the toilet was never recovered.
Positive public reaction
Evgenia Egorova, social media lead for Visit Norway, said her team had created similar content for World Toilet Day on November 19 and was delighted to repurpose it. "When life gives you lemons or quotes like this, you just do the lemonade — and all the viral content," she said Friday. The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.
