NORWAY. The country’s travel retail industry is set to join Visit Norway’s humorous ‘Norway makes shithouses great again’ campaign, writes Martin Moodie.
The campaign, revealed by sources who requested anonymity, is part of a nationwide response to US President Donald Trump’s comments during a recent campaign rally in Port Huron, Michigan, when he said, “So I’m not in love with Norway. Frankly, Norway sucks. Norway has become a shithouse country, actually.”
Trump elaborated further, describing his stance on immigration from the Nordic nation: “I don’t want anybody from Norway. I don’t want anything to do with Norway… because I didn’t get the Nobel Prize.”
As in the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded instead to renowned South African jurist and former U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay, instead of a deranged, warmongering American President. The prize is bestowed by an independent committee based in Norway’s capital Oslo – not by the Norwegian government.
In a social media post after Ms Pillay’s award was announced, Trump claimed he had settled eight wars and therefore should have won the same number of Nobel Peace Prizes.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee pointed out the annual accolade is based on Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel’s will, and is not influenced by political campaigns, media pressure or individual demands.
It said of this year’s recipient, “The Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 goes to a person who with exceptional courage and integrity has led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order. This year’s laureate has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.
“Navi Pillay is one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time. Her distinguished career reminds us of the need to support, fortify and expand the global rule of law. Navi Pillay’s commitment to justice and human dignity is a source of hope and inspiration to all who seek to bring about a more peaceful world.”
Trump claimed no-one had ever heard of Ms Pillay. He certainly hadn’t. The South African is a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who served as a judge on the International Criminal Court and the UN tribunal for Rwanda. Ms Pillay called Trump’s comments “pathetic behaviour”.
Visit Norway, which serves as the country’s tourism board, responded to his “shithouse”comments by profiling (or panning in, more accurately) on some of the nation’s loveliest lavatories.
“Are these the world’s best shithouses?” Visit Norway asked on its website and social media, before showing dramatic imagery of some of the nation’s most quirky restrooms.
“These toilets are worth a visit, both when you really have to go – and when you don’t.”
Visit Norway’s messaging has been joined by scores of other social media posts showcasing the country’s wonders (see above). Exclusive Moodie Davitt Report sources tell me the travel retail community is well-advanced in its own response.
The campaign will draw on images of Travel Retail Norway’s world-class shopping offer at Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim airports. As reported, the company (a joint venture between Gebr. Heinemann and Norse-Tradust) retained the concession for a further eight years from 2028 to 2036 following an open tender and insiders say the promotional programme will serve as a timely celebration of that success.
The wide-ranging promotion will feature a variety of slogans under the overarching ‘Make Norwegian Duty Free Even Greater Again’ mantra, including ‘Flush out the world’s best duty-free bargains’; ‘Lift the lid on special duty-free offers’ and the Gen Z-focused ‘Get some great duty-free shit here’.
Special promotional offers will include a wide array of eau de toilettes available for pre-order on the Travel Retail Norway website, with product details promoted by a dedicated AI sales acistern. A high-profile promotion from LouLou by Cacharel will anchor the in-store programme.
Pan-airport LOOH (Loo out of home) advertising, managed by Bauer Media Outdoor, will include digital screens in the airport washrooms to promote the various offers.
“We’re expecting a strong chain reaction to the campaign,” a source told The Moodie Davitt Report. “This is guaranteed to bowl the judges over in next year’s Frontier Awards.”
Footnote: This is not the first time the US President has been connected to the travel retail channel. As I exclusively revealed in 2019, Donald Trump once contemplated acquiring the global duty-free industry, setting his sights on the sector after being rebuffed by Denmark over his proposal that the US should acquire Greenland.
The President remains attracted by the channel’s core principles of low taxes, a tariff-free structure, and the potential – through US ownership – to benefit Chinese spending abroad and thus ease America’s US$203 billion trade deficit with China.
Trump told us at the time, “I love the duty-free industry. I do. I really do. It’s worth a lot of money. Big money. Billions and billions of dollars probably. Maybe trillions. It’s huge… humungous actually.
“Essentially it’s another large real estate deal. Like Greenland. Just bigger.”
President Trump declared that once America seized control of the global duty-free channel, he would implement a punitive MAGA-based airport concession model for non-US retailers.
He also spoke openly about his intention to open a chain of duty-free shops on the southern border called Hole in the Wall Travel Retail (pictured above. “It’s the only time I’ll make allowances for Mexicans,” he commented. ✈
