This campaign was created to do something concrete for the improvement of the Finnish image abroad.
Our aim is to change the Google Image Search Results page for the term “finnish” to more realistically reflect Finns, Finland and the Finnish way of life. Currently it mostly just shows photos from World War II.
Why does Google Image Search matter
Google is the world’s foremost reputation engine. It decides what is relevant for any topic. And when people are looking for a Finnish image, they get a result that from a Finnish perspective is distorted and does not reflect the current Finnish way of life.
Here’s what the situation was on December 18 2009 with search term “finnish”:
Just compare that with the result of our beloved neighbors, search term “swedish”
Just looking at those pictures made us realise that something needed to be done to correct the situation. And it was not a job for the Finnish Brand committee, but a job where anyone can help.
Who’s behind the campaign?
This campaign was conceived in Finnish Advertising Agency W.Steinmann. The inspiration for this campaign was a tweet by @taalto.