What it had to solve
Hijack the buzz around Meta's metaverse launch quickly to promote Iceland as tourism.
The idea
Answer the metaverse with 'the Icelandverse': a lookalike of Mark Zuckerberg hosting a tour of real Iceland, with a haircut to match.
How it works
The country's fictional 'chief visionary officer' Zack Mossbergsson, played by actor Jorunder Ragnarsson, fronts a film shot in one day just after a snowstorm at the Blue Lagoon. It took only a matter of days to pitch, produce and distribute.
What it did
Adweek reports the film passed six million views in five days and was covered by media outlets around the world.
Background
Adweek reported on 17 November 2021 that tourism board Visit Iceland's lampooning of Meta's launch video featuring Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had been viewed over six million times in five days. The spoof, 'the Icelandverse', took only days to pitch, produce and distribute.
It features the country's 'chief visionary officer' Zack Mossbergsson, played by actor Jorunder Ragnarsson, who with a matching haircut is unmistakably a clone of Zuckerberg. The film was shot in one day, just after a snowstorm at the Blue Lagoon, and media outlets around the world covered it.
Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir, head of Visit Iceland, told Adweek that a friend from Singapore had got in touch that morning to say they had just watched it.
Why it lands
Meta's metaverse launch was the topic of the week, so a spoof could ride its attention.
A single-day shoot at a recognisable Icelandic site kept it fast and cheap.
A convincing lookalike made the joke obvious without explanation.
The parody lets Iceland sell physical places against a virtual one.
What you can take
Speed is the creative asset in newsjacking: a parody made while the original is still the topic gets the conversation.
Since then
Adweek reported more than six million views in five days and worldwide press coverage; no tourism numbers were given.
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