Helsinki recently extended a public invitation to Pamela Anderson to visit Finland and reconnect with her Finnish heritage, following her remarks in Vogue Scandinavia about wanting to explore her roots more deeply. A sharp-witted idea by agency, United Imaginations, that was destined to attract attention.
It did.
The story quickly crossed the Atlantic, sparking excitement all over the world but especially in Canada, where many local admirers expressed renewed interest in visiting Helsinki. But not everyone was amused. An account named Explore Canada (@explorecanada) was quick to fire back with a comment noting that Pamela Anderson is proudly Canadian and very much at home in Canada.
Now Canada’s national tourism marketing organisation, Explore Canada, has taken over one of the largest digital billboards in central Helsinki, in the heart of the city, encouraging Helsinkians who love Pamela that they would also love Canada – just like Pamela does.
The original invitation to Pamela, incidentally, was initiated by Helsinki Partners, the City of Helsinki’s official marketing organisation, setting the stage for an unusual exchange between the two destination marketing organisations. With Finland and Canada set to meet in a highly anticipated Olympic ice hockey match at the Milano Santa Giulia Arena, the exchange evolved into a broader and good-spirited heated rivalry stretching beyond the rink. Helsinki answered the challenge on its official @myhelsinki Instagram account, proposing that the outcome of the Olympic clash would settle the friendly dispute. Under the terms of the public challenge, the country whose team wins organises a raffle open to anyone named Pamela, while the losing entity pays for a week-long trip to their country/city.
The campaign has expanded far beyond the original challenge bringing celebrity, national pride and Olympic ice hockey together and placing Pamela Anderson unexpectedly at the centre of an international heated rivalry.
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