A Sharp Remark Met With Sharper Marketing
When a US president disparages your country at a political rally, the typical response might involve diplomatic channels, official statements, or stony silence. Norway's tourism board chose a different route: it leaned into the insult and turned it into a showcase for some of the most unusual public toilets on the planet.
The comment came during a campaign rally in Michigan on 25 October, when Donald Trump, discussing immigration policy, remarked that Norway had become what he termed a "shitehouse country." The statement was part of a broader speech in which he also said he would not welcome Norwegian immigrants because he had not received the Nobel Peace Prize. This year's prize went to international jurist Navi Pillay, a decision made by an independent Norwegian committee rather than the government in Oslo.
Instead of issuing a formal rebuttal, Visit Norway updated an existing webpage and relaunched it under a new title: "Are these the world's best shithouses?" The page, which had previously highlighted public conveniences along Norway's scenic routes, was shared across social media with captions including "Norway makes shithouses great again."
Toilets That Double as Tourist Attractions
The facilities in question are not ordinary roadside rest stops. They form part of the Norwegian Scenic Routes, a network of 18 tourist roads where architecture is designed to complement the natural landscape. Nearly all of the rest stops were conceived by Norwegian architecture firms, both established names and emerging studios, and many have become destinations in their own right.
One of the most recognised is the toilet at Stegastein, perched high above Aurlandsfjord. The structure juts out over the water and has been ranked by DesignCurial among the ten best public toilets globally. On the island of Senja, a golden toilet has become a popular photo opportunity for visitors. At Ureddplassen, on the Helgeland coast, the facilities stand beside a memorial to the crew of the submarine Uredd, which sank nearby during the Second World War.
Other designs take a quieter approach. The toilet at Utsikten operates on solar power, while the one at Ostasteidn is built to allow moss to grow over its exterior walls, blending into the surrounding terrain. The structures are intended to be functional, sustainable, and visually integrated with their settings, whether that means a fjord, a waterfall, or the northern lights overhead.
A Calculated Response Rooted in Humour
The decision to respond with levity rather than indignation was deliberate. Evgenia Egorova, a senior consultant at Visit Norway, explained that the team wanted to offer a moment of lightness. She noted that the world could use a laugh, and that the response was crafted with kindness and a touch of humour.
Jens Kjeldsen, a professor of rhetoric at the University of Bergen, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK that the tone was well judged. He compared the situation to dealing with a bully in a playground: if you respond too seriously, the bully wins. By contrast, a response that refuses to take offence can defuse the situation and shift the narrative.
The approach appears to have worked. According to data from Skift, the toilet page received more than 80,000 views from over 170 countries within five days of the campaign launch, roughly 540 times the traffic it had seen the previous week. Around one in four visitors to the page were American. Visit Norway spent less than 10,000 US dollars promoting the campaign, making it a low-cost, high-impact piece of marketing.
Context and Precedent
This is not the first time the US president has used similar language to describe other nations. He has previously applied the same term to Haiti, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. The remark about Norway represents a reversal from his earlier presidency, when he praised Norway and suggested he would prefer Norwegian immigrants over those from Haiti and certain African nations.
Norway's response stands out not because it corrected the record, but because it redirected attention to something the country does well: designing public infrastructure that respects and enhances the environment. The campaign did not engage with the political substance of the remark. Instead, it reframed the conversation around architecture, landscape, and tourism.
What Comes Next
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration, which oversees the development of the scenic routes and their facilities, is already working on its next project. The plan involves a forest-inspired restroom constructed from the wood of 60 to 70 trees. The structure will be shaped like an upside-down tree trunk, with roots forming the roof supports. It is part of an ongoing effort to integrate infrastructure with natural surroundings in ways that are both practical and visually distinctive.
The episode offers a lesson in how tourism boards can navigate unexpected moments. Rather than issuing a statement that might be forgotten within a news cycle, Visit Norway created content that was shareable, specific, and rooted in what the country actually offers. The toilets themselves are real, the architecture is noteworthy, and the campaign required minimal spending to achieve wide reach.
Whether the remark will have any lasting impact on US-Norway relations remains unclear. What is clear is that a well-timed piece of digital marketing can turn an insult into an opportunity, and that public toilets, when designed with care, can become symbols of national pride.
