Just when you thought the Philippines’ Presidential Communications Operations Office’s (PCOO) “Norwegia” controversy has been put to rest, here’s a cheeky little Facebook post that brought it up again — this time, care of the Swedish Embassy in Manila.
In a post yesterday about last night’s FIFA World Cup match between Sweden and Switzerland, the embassy’s Facebook page cleared up something many find confusing — no, Sweden and Switzerland are not the same.
“Here’s another helpful inforgraphic (sic) from Sweden.se for those who easily get confused between #SWEDEN and #SWITZERLAND,” the caption reads.
Here’s the throwing-shade bit. The post added: “FUN FACT: They are both nowhere near #Norwegia.”
It ended with the hashtag “#HejaSverige!” which means “Go Sweden!”
Wink, wink.
https://www.facebook.com/SwedeninManila/photos/a.1770909653159239.1073741829.1732256273691244/2037052716544930/?type=3&theater
While not many have reacted to the embassy’s joke, those who have seen it thought it was quite witty.
Facebook user Connie Barrientos-Carey said: “The social media manager rocks!”
Monchi Roderos thought the same and said in Filipino: “Your social media team is good.”
Pam Luber just laughed and said: “Dat shade HAHHA.”
For those who have not been following Philippine news (or living under a rock), the “Norwegia” comment is a reference to an error posted by the PCOO, the government’s official communications office where it called Norway’s ambassador to the Philippines as “the representative of Norwegia.”
This resulted to endless jabs at the PCOO — which has committed similar errors in the past — in the form of sarcastic tweets and memes.
It turns out, the Swedish embassy in Manila regularly posts quips like this on Facebook.
In another post about the World Cup match, it gave another easy way to differentiate Sweden from Switzerland.
“As public service, we have prepared a graphic image to help those who still get confused between #SWEDEN (The magical land of IKEA, H&M, Volvo, ABBA, Björn Borg, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Spotify, Skype, Candy Crush Saga, Minecraft, Avicii, Alexander Skarsgard, and Alicia Vikander) and #SWITZERLAND (Uh, Swiss chocolates, yodelling, and Roger Federer…?).”
Feel the burn.
https://www.facebook.com/SwedeninManila/photos/a.1770909653159239.1073741829.1732256273691244/2036255693291299/?type=3&theater
And the wisecracks were worth it.
Sweden won the match last night, its first time to reach the quarterfinals since 1994.
