Finland’s Canberra Embassy Becomes Meme After One-Day Closure Notice
Finland's embassy in Canberra became a global meme after announcing it would close on November 10. Ambassador Arto Haapea said the notice was routine, not a stunt, and that the embassy is the only one in the region able to process Finnish passports.
Finland's embassy in Canberra became an international meme this week after announcing a one-day closure on Tuesday, November 10, with social media users joking that the notice left the day ruined for the whole internet.
The embassy, in the Canberra suburb of Yarralumla, is now the most-followed Finnish embassy in the world, according to Finland's ambassador to Australia, Arto Haapea.
The closure notice was routine, Haapea said. "It was in no way premeditated to get attention," he said. "Once a year we just usually go on a planning day to look at the next year."
The embassy posted the notice on Instagram a few days after a separate video, released the week before, had already drawn attention. In it, Haapea asked followers: "Are you single? Good. We are here to help." He then added: "You have tried Tinder. You have tried Bumble. But have you tried... Helsinki?"
That clip promoted a campaign by Finland's chief tourism organisation to fly singles from around the world to Northern Europe for a series of dinner dates. The aim was to showcase Finnish cuisine. Haapea said the campaign drew more than 200,000 applications worldwide.
The closure post followed with upbeat piano music and a time-lapse of the Northern Lights. It said the embassy would reopen the next day.
Brands and users piled in within hours. Global youth travel company Contiki commented: "Day's ruined now, cheers." The Canberra Raiders, a rugby league team, wrote one word: "Bugger."
Users then spoofed the notice in videos. In one skit, a woman tells her boyfriend the embassy is closed because it is November 10. Another clip showed a snowstorm, captioned: "Going to Finland personally because the embassy in Canberra was closed today."
Haapea said he did not mind the jokes. He noted, though, that about 10,000 holders of Finnish passports live in Australia and all must go to Canberra for new ones, including those in Sydney and Melbourne. The same applies to Finns in New Zealand and elsewhere in the Pacific.
"We are the only one in this region who can process passport applications. People come from afar," Haapea said.
He said the team was as surprised as anyone by the attention. "We were just as surprised as anyone else when it became viral."
