Arabic version: منشورات السفارة الفنلندية تجذب اهتماماً واسعاً على الإنترنت

According to ABC News, Finnish Ambassador Arto Haapea has welcomed a surge of online attention after the Embassy of Finland in Australia posted an Instagram video promoting a dating-focused travel competition, followed by a notice of a one-day closure for a team planning event.

Haapea said the attention was worthwhile if it was positive, helped bring visibility to the embassy’s work and brought Australia and Finland closer. He said each post had received about 80 million views, a level of engagement far beyond anything previously seen on the embassy’s Instagram page.

The first reel encouraged singles to enter a competition to travel to Finland and join dinners with others looking to date. It included the lines, “maybe the problem is not you, maybe it’s your postcode” and “You’ve tried Tinder, you’ve tried Bumble, but have you tried Helsinki?” The later closure notice prompted humorous responses from commenters, including the Canberra Raiders account and travel company Contiki.

Haapea said the embassy team found the memes hilarious while continuing its planning-day agenda outside Canberra. He said 99 per cent of online interaction had been positive and that he hoped the interest would help people discover Finland, become curious about its offerings and strengthen ties with Australia. The campaign was intended to promote Finnish cuisine, with group dinners involving eight international guests and two Finnish singles. Haapea also said an image of a large queue outside the embassy was AI-generated, though small groups of visitors had stopped by to take pictures.