Faroe Islands' Sheep View 360 puts cameras on sheep — and Google comes to map

The Faroe Islands, a North Atlantic archipelago of about 50,000 people, did not exist on Google Street View and Google was not coming. The tourism board wanted the world to see the landscape, so a local activist decided the sheep could do the mapping.

Make the islands' 70,000–80,000 sheep the Street View cars: strap solar-powered 360 cameras on them, upload the footage to Google Maps, and dare Google to do it properly.

Durita Dahl Andreassen and Visit Faroe Islands designed solar-powered 360-degree camera harnesses, fitted them to sheep and sent the animals into the mountains. The resulting views were uploaded to Google Maps under the name Sheep View 360, with the hashtag #WeWantGoogleStreetView asking Google to do the job properly.

Five weeks after the July 2016 launch, Google brought its official Street View cameras to map the islands' roads and lent smaller cameras for hiking trails; the imagery went live on Google Street View in November 2017. The stunt drew hundreds of articles that the tourism board valued at about $42 million in PR against a budget of roughly $289,000, and the board reported a surge in flight and hotel bookings for the following summer.

The Faroe Islands, an archipelago of about 50,000 people in the North Atlantic, had some of the most scenic roads in Europe but did not exist on Google Street View, and Google had no plans to change that. The tourism board's problem was simple: potential visitors could not see what they were missing.

Activist Durita Dahl Andreassen proposed an answer only the Faroe Islands could produce. The islands' sheep outnumber the human population, so she and Visit Faroe Islands strapped solar-powered 360-degree cameras onto sheep and let them wander the mountains, uploading the resulting footage to Google Maps as 'Sheep View 360' under the hashtag #WeWantGoogleStreetView.

The stunt became the story itself: hundreds of outlets covered the camera-wearing sheep, coverage the tourism board valued at roughly $42 million in PR value against a project budget of about $289,000, and the board reported a surge in flights and hotel bookings for the following summer.

It also got the desired result from Google. Five weeks after launch, Google arrived with its official Street View cameras to map the roads, and lent smaller cameras so residents and visitors could capture hiking trails and shorelines. The imagery, including some shot by the sheep, went live on Google Street View in November 2017.

Mapping with sheep turned a gap in service into a spectacle only the Faroe Islands could stage.

Uploading real footage to Google Maps showed demand where Google could see it, not just in a petition.

The low budget kept the risk tiny while the quirk made the coverage self-replicating.

The campaign gave the islands a global identity story that outlived the stunt itself.

When a platform ignores you, do the work yourself in the only way your place can — the visible proof of demand is more persuasive than a request, and the local quirk becomes the story.

Google mapped the Faroe Islands in 2017, crediting the campaign, and Sheep View 360 was recognized as an award-winning marketing campaign for Visit Faroe Islands and Atlantic Airways, including a Bronze Cannes Lion in 2017. The official campaign page remains online as a record of the project, and tourism continued to grow after the islands appeared on Street View.