YouTube hunt for father a fake

Baby August and his mum served to introduce Denmark to millions of internet users Little baby August needn’t rely on a YouTube video to track down his father as he is just an actor in a tourism video

A video uploaded to the internet by a Danish woman claiming to be tracking down the father of her baby has been seen almost a million times in four days – an effective marketing tool says the tourism agency behind the fake appeal.

On video-sharing website YouTube, ‘Danish Karen’ holds little baby August and tells the viewer how she is searching for his father, whom she can’t remember after a one night stand in Copenhagen.

The video also has an accompanying website with ‘personal’ photos of the mother and child. Both the website and video garnered a lot of international attention, being highlighted on Dutch news programmes among others.

When it was initially uploaded, thousands of comments flooded in. Many described the mother as an irresponsible young woman, while others praised her for her bravery and living up to her responsibilities.

However, it quickly emerged that tourism agency VisitDenmark was behind the heart-tugging appeal and Karen was being portrayed by Danish actress Ditte Arnth Jørgensen. The 27-year-old actress has yet to comment on her latest role because of the media controversy surrounding it.

The real identity of baby August and his parents has not been revealed.

Dorte Kiilerich of VisitDenmark described the video as the ‘most effective thing we have ever done to market Denmark’.

Kiilerich told TV2 News that Denmark is an unknown entity in the global market and by producing the video they had shown the country was a place where women live in a free society, able to make their own choices.

According to the tourism executive she didn’t think that viewers were being tricked by the video.

‘This is a good, sweet and really harmless story and it’s not unusual to sell false stories when you communicate,’ Kiilerich said.

Comments

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AussieJ - Are u kidding me....apparently so!

|2009-09-14 12:09:55

Congratulations on perpetuating one of the myths that many people hold of Scandanavian women....blonde haired blue eyed and ready for a good time.This doesnt empower women nor does it show a country where women live in a free society.
What it shows however is a young woman who drunkenly ( has anyone thought asbout the issue of alcoholism in Denmark and Scandanavia) had unprotected sex (AIDS Council of Denmark where do u stand on this??).Couldnt remember anything about the babys father....mmmm. What an image.
So here we have it.....come to Denmark, come get an easy lay and in the meantime get as smashed as possible and hope you dont get an STD.
My 3 year old blonde haired blue eyed Danish daughter thanks you Dorte Kiilerich for ensuring that the myth survivesthat Danish girls are seen as drunken women who are willing to have random unprotected sex.....
Denmark the beautiful!

Stranger - Nothing good, sweet or harmless . . .

|2009-09-14 12:19:31

about it. It promotes Danish women as cheap, easy and stupid, not independent. When our daughters travel outside the country, they'll be met with leers, advances and possibly rape, because hey, they're from Denmark - they want the sex, even if they say no.

Heaven forbid you promote Denmark as a place to take your families and point out the good things about the country (if there are any good points left).

PC - Nice slogan

|2009-09-14 14:32:53

"Visit Denmark, land of sluts."

Is this Dorte Kiilerich seriously being paid by the government?

macdaisy - VistiDenmark should be ashamed!

|2009-09-14 14:40:24

After reading this story, I was too shocked and disgusted to write a comment about it. Thanks to AussieJ and Stranger for putting it into words. I agree with you both 100%, and I'm totally puzzled as to why Visit Denmark though this was a positive way to market Denmark. Obviously the 3 of us are not the target audience they're trying to reach, but I would love to know exactly who they are trying to lure into Denmark with a stunt like this. Women who want free sperm doners? Guys/girls who want free sex? I'd love to hear from VisitDenmark as to why they thought this was such a great idea. The person responsible should be fired.

jeangenie

|2009-09-14 16:19:16

It seems to me that this is about as good a PR repesentation of Denmark as "Borat" was for Kazakhstan. Seriously.

Aside from painting Danish women as drunk, indiscriminant about sex, and averse to contraception - which believe it or not, VisitDenmark, is *not* a compliment, I seriously doubt that most male first-world tourists are genuinely "excited" about the prospect of going to a country where they might accidentally knock a girl up and have to deal with the consequences one year hence.

A sexually free and egalitarian society is one in which both sexes have access and take responsibility for birth control and the prevention of STD's. I don't understand why, if VisitDenmark is so hellbent on portraying Denmark as a "sexually liberated" country, they chose not to convey *that* message.

The depiction of Denmark shown here is barely a step above marketing the Baltic countries for their access to "cheap hookers." Think about it - "Come to Denmark - I've had your baby, but at least I don't have AIDS!"

seasonticket - >.

|2009-09-14 21:38:39

If the tourist numbers drop this year, can we be assured the people behind this campaign will be sacked? Or do we judge effectiveness on how good the marketing board thinks it should have been?

tom1980

|2009-09-14 17:31:18

I have to say the bird in that photo isn't exactly top crumpet. They could have found someone a bit fitter than that...like...ME! They clearly missed the boat on that one, Im no longer available....Im too busy spying on foreigners.

safwh - who are hypocrites!

|2009-09-15 21:58:32

I cannot help noticing the hypocrisy in the way this episode has been handled. The video has been removed from the youtube and the website has been deleted from Internet. The reason off course is "in order not to offend people". Read it here: http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article788476.ece.
But, where was this reasoning when the publishers were posting the Muhammad cartoons again and again in the name of 'freedom of speech' and cared little about whether someone was offended or not ('everything' was allowed in the name of 'freedom' then).
I uphold freedom, that is why I am in Denmark and not in Saudi Arabia. But, Freedom without Foresight and without thinking about the consequences of one's actions can sometimes be more dangerous than 'no freedom'. This whole incident just proves that.

tom1980

|2009-09-14 18:21:00

”Karen’s story shows that Denmark is a broad-minded country where you can do what you want” says VisitDenmark CEO Dorte Kiilerich.

What Karen's story really shows is how dim the people at VisitDenmark really are.

This is a contender for the jackass of the year project, with those silly bike chips a close contender for the gold medal.

kt - At least the youtube link is still there

|2009-09-14 22:11:54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZdDTqMKtHE

safwh - To kt

|2009-09-15 15:42:06

What the article refers to is the original video/s uploaded by Karen (or Visit Denmark!) has been removed. In these days, anything which once goes on the Internet (and becomes viral as huge as this was) is then difficult to limit and impossible to control in distribution. So, the fodder will remain there for a long time to munch and burp.

jeangenie

|2009-09-14 23:21:24

Haven't most developed countries moved sufficiently past the sexual revolution that the idea of a cheap one-night stand is not enough to lure them to a foreign country? Most people these days can manage low-to-no-commitment sexual assignations a little closer to home if they so desire...with the added benefit of *avoiding* sexual congress with a person who has a COMPLETE cultural disconnect in terms of communication about protection.

This video isn't just sexist about women, but it sells men short - I don't think most guys would appreciate the prospect of being "tricked" into fatherhood. In fact, for many, I would suspect, the fear of fathering a child with a one-night stand is probably second only to "waking up with a dead prostitute in your hotel room." Now there's an idea for VisitDenmark's *NEXT* campaign.

tomnashdk

|2009-09-15 08:10:21

Is this the kind of friend Lene Espersen was talking about when she suggested that all of us foreigners needed a Danish friend? Um, no thanks...

damestjernelys - Isn't it illegal

|2009-09-15 20:23:52

For VisitDenmark to post this type of advertisement on YouTube without clearly marking it as an advertisement, according to Danish marketing laws?

Leonardo - I am VERY disappointed

|2009-09-15 21:46:18

I am VERY disappointed with this new marketing strategy that VistDenmark has chosen.

When I first saw the video I believe it and I wrote and article about “Karen’s situation”. I tried to use my network to spread the word and help her finding the father of little August.

This is my article:
http://to-love-work-study-travel-denmark.blogspot.com/2009/09/danish-mother-seeking-father-of-little.html

You can imagine my surprise and anger when 2 days later I found out that everything was a lie and the video was false.

I believe that Denmark has many, many, many GOOD things that can be use to promote this country.

I am an expat in this country an even I could come up with 109 reasons and facts why Denmark is a good country:
http://to-love-work-study-travel-denmark.blogspot.com/2009/07/109-non-exciting-reasons-and-facts-why_1220.html

I really don’t think that with lies and playing with people’s emotions it is the right way to promote Denmark.

Luckily for Denmark in 2 months we will have the COP15 (UN Climate Change Conference in December 2009 at Copenhagen) that will probably help to clean up a little bit the bad image Denmark has given to the world with the drawings and now with this lie.

tomnashdk

|2009-09-16 19:32:28

Admittedly this is a very small sample size, but I chatted with some work colleageus about this. Anecdotal evidence from them, which includes opinions from friends they have talked to, seems to say that most Danes are a bit embarrassed about this one. There were a lot of downcast eyes, embarrassed foot shuffling, the usual Danish shut-down when the subject is not favorable to Denmark, and mumblings about, "we don't look so good this time." If I read this right Dorte Kiilerich of VisitDenmark is in a very small minority of people who see this as positive.

jtothearod

|2009-09-17 17:11:21

Lets be honest, what did VisitDenmark have to work with? Where other countries could use gorgeous weather, cheap shopping or magnificent natural scenery to attract visitors, that isn't really going to cut it in Denmark, is it?

I can say that the beautiful danish women have certainly been among the highlights of my life here.

At least they're honest about what Denmark has going for it.

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YouTube hunt for father a fake

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