A new tourism campaign from Inspired By Iceland has just forced us to question what, exactly, the Nordic country is up to. The ad, entitled “Let It Out!,” shows a variety of people screaming over pandemic-related frustrations before they’re transported to Iceland. We’re told that each tormented shout recorded on a special website will be played on speakers placed around the country, though no information is given as to why the Icelandic want to establish a database of human misery.
The official website provides some background on scream therapy and tells visitors that the country can offer “the perfect place to let your frustrations out.” In the commercial, a guy tries to cut his own hair; a woman watches the latest bad news on her tablet; people are shown going stir-crazy in quarantine. Each one of these moments eventually produces the delicious screams that Iceland wants to collect and then play on loudspeakers situated around “beautiful, wide-open spaces.”
“When you’re ready, come let it out for real,” the copy continues. Though this seems, at first, like it could backfire spectacularly when swarms of shrieking tourists descend upon the country, the invitation is obviously intentional. Iceland wants the world’s anguish brought to it. The country hungers for torment.
We’re not sure what to believe anymore. As we weep to Björk and Sigur Rós, a part of us will always wonder if the Icelandic musicians’ entire careers are simply a ruse to stir up emotion so it can be snatched up and processed into some bizarre Nordic fuel source. These suspicions will never fade until Iceland decides to let everyone share in its strange project, revealing at last what it’s doing with those screams it’s so desperate to collect.
If you’re brave enough to submit yourself as a guinea pig, head to Looks Like You Need Iceland.
[via Boing Boing]