'Iceland 1, Tech Industry 0': Mark Zuckerberg Ridiculed in Tourist Ad
14:41 GMT 15.11.2021 (Updated: 18:23 GMT 03.11.2022)
© Photo : Inspired by Iceland
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The marvellous parody of the newly rebranded website mocks the Facebook founder's gestures and hilariously mimics his penchant for sunscreen and nonsensical phrases with gems such as “water that's actually wet” and “skies you can see with your eyeballs”, while praising Iceland's scenic nature.
A humorous ad by Business Iceland, a public-private partnership with the country’s department of tourism to promote and market the Nordic country, has ridiculed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s efforts to rebrand his company by changing its name to Meta.
Presented only weeks after Zuckerberg’s proud announcement about the launch of Metaverse - a digital world built with the idea to connect people with futuristic virtual landscapes through the help of virtual and augmented reality technologies - the ad makes some pretty blunt allusions and tongue-in-cheek jokes.
Among others, the ad features Icelandic actor Jorundur Ragnarsson as “Chief Visionary Officer Zack Mossbergsson” introducing the public to the reality of the “Icelandverse”, clad in an outfit which wouldn't look out of place in the Facebook chief executive's wardrobe and imitating his trademark clumsy style.
Some said an open-world experience this immersive wasn’t possible. But it’s already here. And you don’t even need silly VR headsets.
— Inspired by Iceland (@iceland) November 11, 2021
Introducing, ✨Icelandverse✨#icelandverse pic.twitter.com/b1cf1REKl9
The ad proceeds to tout Iceland's sights and attractions as a “revolutionary approach on how to connect our world, without being super weird”.
In particular, Zuckerberg’s penchant for virtual reality is satirised when the ad presents Iceland's breathtakingly beautiful landscape as “enhanced actual reality, without silly-looking headsets”. “In our open-world experience, everything is real”.
The hashtag #Icelandverse got trending on Twitter in no time.
“Iceland: 1, tech industry: 0”, one amazed user tweeted.
Iceland: 1, tech industry: 0 pic.twitter.com/Hoa4u4bwHi
— Aaron Levie (@levie) November 12, 2021
“Hats off to the Icelandic ministry of tourism propaganda, this is the perfect parody,” another one chimed in.
Hats off to the Icelandic ministry of tourism propaganda, this is the perfect parody #Icelandverse https://t.co/nEo0n5fm0P
— Ymir Vigfusson (@YVigfusson) November 12, 2021
“Hello, police? Yes, Iceland just murdered Mark Zuckerberg,” another chuckled.
Hello, police? Yes, Iceland just murdered Mark Zuckerberg. pic.twitter.com/z3nz3TOMCe
— Barry Malone (@malonebarry) November 12, 2021
However, arguably the highest praise came from none other than Mark Zuckerberg himself, who particularly enjoyed the creators' aptly poking fun at his ample use of sunscreen.
“Amazing. I need to make a trip to the Icelandverse soon. Glad you’re wearing sunscreen too,” Zuckerberg said.
Our very own Zack Mossbergsson even managed to convince his friend Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook to enter the #Icelandverse! Yes, really! pic.twitter.com/9D4EeALqsi
— Inspired by Iceland (@iceland) November 14, 2021
The island nation, celebrated for its barren solid-lava landscape, waterfalls, hot springs and snow-capped mountains, used to be a popular tourist destination. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Iceland - a nation of only 330,000 - welcomed about two million visitors per year.
