Visit the home of those weird Swedish IKEA product names for free

How´s your Swedish? Bolmen, Järvfjället, Skärhamn, Kallax and Toftan. For years now the world has marvelled at and struggled to pronounce, IKEA product names*. What most don't realise is that the global furniture giant often names its wares after real places in Sweden. Now, practice your Swedish by uploading your attempts at pronouncing the names of these fantastic locations for a chance to win and visit Sweden.

Martin Olson/Peter Nilen/Destination Lofsdalen

Dream of travelling to Sweden to experience a wolf safari, spending the night in wolf territory in the forests of Västmanland? Always wanted to enjoy the expansive views experienced from the saddle as you ride a mountain bike in the Swedish mountains. Maybe soaring over the treetops of Småland in a four-kilometre Zipline is closer to heart? Or is culture your thing, visiting art museums and living like an artist on Sweden´s scenic West Coast?  Here´s the opportunity! All that´s needed to win a dream trip is to pronounce a few Swedish words - to the best of your ability!

Through Visit Sweden's "Discover the Originals", millions of people around the world learned that IKEA's toilet brush, Bolmen borrowed its name from an idyllic lake in Småland. Laxviken, Norberg and Skärhamn some of Sweden's pretty destinations, are also places that the furniture giant has borrowed names from for its products.  In Visit Sweden's new competition Visit the home of the Originals, four lucky winners and a friend, from the United Kingdom, Germany or Holland, get the chance to travel to Lofsdalen in the north, Småland in the south, West Sweden in the west or Västmanland in central Sweden. Here are just a few of the things they will get to experience:

Action and adventure in Jämtland and Härjedalen

Spend unforgettable days in the spectacular mountain landscape of Lofsdalen valley. Enjoy the wild countryside while downhill cycling, hiking, trout fishing, paddling a canoe and swimming. Then, sit back, relax and marvel at the views through the window while enjoying the classic taste of cloudberry jam and other local specialities?

Read more about Jämtland and Härjedalen: https://visitsweden.com/where-to-go/northern-sweden/jamtland-harjedalen/

Read more about Lofsdalen: https://www.lofsdalen.com/en

The diversity of Västmanland

Experience unique days in the Västmanland way. Historical buildings, modern luxury, deep forests and glittering waves await you just an hour's journey from Stockholm. Paddle a canoe around magical lake islands, walk fairytale forests, taste locally produced food and revel in warm hospitality all in spectacular surroundings.

Read more about Västmanland:
https://visitsweden.com/where-to-go/middle-sweden/vastmanland/
https://vastmanland.se/en/

Picturesque West Sweden

Come, fall in love with the magic of West Sweden. Take a gentle bike ride and get dazzled by the view of lake Åsunden. Enjoy a stroll in the sea breeze, amongst bobbing boats, smooth glacial granite rocks and watercolour art in maritime Skärhamn. Then move on to paddle a canoe across a glittering lake, soaking up the history at the fairytale lakeside Läckö Castle and gardens. 

Read more about West Sweden: https://visitsweden.com/where-to-go/southern-sweden/vastsverige/ and https://www.vastsverige.com/en/ 
 

Mythical Småland

Discover the home of iconic Sweden imagery. Travel to the home of the classic Astrid Lindgren tales and explore the serene lake Bolmen made famous by IKEA´s toilet brush, enjoy the 19th-century Toftaholm Mansion and marvel at the internationally renowned glassworks tradition of Kosta. Need a break? Dine over a campfire in the outdoors – enjoying world-class local gourmet food.

Read more about Småland: https://visitsweden.com/where-to-go/southern-sweden/smaland/ and https://www.visitsmaland.se/en
 

For more information about the competition and destinations please visit: https://visitsweden.com/win-a-trip/

The competition is active between 22nd August and 30th September 2022. The trips to Sweden take place during the spring, summer and autumn of 2023.

Compete by pronouncing the Swedish words correctly

Find out how to enter and which words you need to pronounce by watching the short film according to your country of residence:
UNITED KINGDOM: https://youtu.be/w45-WAgtjkM 
GERMANY: https://youtu.be/_WY7rJKb27A
HOLLAND: https://youtu.be/vZlWMQbuONU

How to enter:

•         Visit the https://visitsweden.com/win-a-trip/ campaign page.

•         Ask a friend to film you or film yourself while playing the contest video on the campaign page.

•         Pronounce the IKEA products and Swedish words that come up on the screen, then spontaneously comment in real-time why the environments shown between the words appear exciting to visit.

•         Send your video to us, with accompanying text justification, via the form on the campaign page.

•         Best pronunciation and justifications win!

Notes to Editors

Download press images and competition film here:  https://contentbank.visitsweden.com/selection/3ac44b215663acb1ded2b0711179679b

Read more about the Discover the Originals initiative here:
https://visitsweden.com/discover-the-originals/

If you have questions, please contact:  

Steve Robertshaw, Senior PR Manager, Visit Sweden, UK

email: steve.robertshaw@visitsweden.com

telephone: +44(0)7494 517223

More about – Visit Sweden: Discover the originals

In November of 2021, local politicians, residents, and media gathered by lake Bolmen for the presentation of the lake’s new slogan: Welcome to Bolmen, more than an IKEA toilet brush. In social media, even more beautiful pictures and catchy slogans were offered. Everything pointed towards the Visit Sweden homepage where a guide to 21 lovely places was detailed. Just hours after going live the campaign was covered by Sweden’s biggest new stations – and then it went global! Many of the world’s biggest publishers within news, travel, and design wrote about the campaign. Some stations received special PR kits with humorous Bolmen merchandise.

Through the campaign, people got to know the truth about IKEA’s mythical product names and the Swedish locations got the attention they deserve.

The results exceeded all expectations, generating more than 700 articles and 300 blog posts in 49 countries.

Sweden officially reclaimed its names.

The campaign was recognised with a Gold and Silver Lion for Creative Strategy at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2022.

The 21 Places Originally Reclaimed by Sweden:

1. Bolmen, a large lake in the Småland region of southern Sweden(toilet brush)
2. Järvfjället, a mountain in Swedish Lapland (gaming chair)
3. Ektorp, a suburb of Stockholm (sofa)
4. Skärhamn, a fishing village on the island of Tjörn off the coast of West Sweden (door handle)
5. Stubbarp, a manor house in the Skåne region of southern Sweden (cabinet legs)
6. Kallax, a coastal village near Luleå in Swedish Lapland (storage shelf)
7. Höljes, one of the most sparsely populated areas in Sweden, a forest in the Värmland region (pendant lamp)
8. Hemsjö, a village in the Blekinge region (block candle)
9. Toftan, a lake in the Dalarna region (waste bin)
10. Mästerby, an historical battleground on the island of Gotland  (a step stool)
11. Voxnan, a river with waterfalls and rapids in the Hälsingland region (shower shelf)
12. Himleån, ravines in the Halland region (bath towel)
13. Laxviken, a rural village in the Jämtland Härjedalen region (cabinet door)
14. Ingatorp, A village where you´ll find one of Sweden’s oldest wooden buildings, in the  Småland region (extendable table)
15. Misterhult, an archipelago of 2,000 islands near Kalmar in the Småland region (a bamboo lamp)
16. Vrena, a village near the east coast in the Sörmland region (countertop)
17. Björksta, a village close to the university town of Uppsala (picture with frame)
18. Norberg, a small town in Västmanland region (folding table)
19. Askersund, a small town near Örebro in central Sweden (cabinet door)
20. Rimforsa, a small village in the Östergötland region of east Sweden (workbench)
21. Bodviken, a mountain lake in the UNESCO World Heritage area of the High Coast in northern Sweden (washbasin)

Five Facts about Sweden:

• Peaking at 2,097 metres (6,880 feet), Kebnekaise is the highest mountain in Sweden.
• Facebook has placed its European servers in Luleå, partly because of the climate that helps cool the servers and the rich access to renewable energy from hydropower, or water power.
• The High Coast Bridge is 1,867 metres long, which made it the world's 9th longest suspension bridge when it opened in 1997.
• Many Swedish homes are painted in a colour known as Falu red. The pigment is a byproduct of copper mining in Falun.
• Sweden covers an area of 407,000 km² (157,000 mi2) and is the fifth largest country in Europe.

-   ENDS  -

Welcome to Sweden.

Your invitation to experience our unique lifestyle, progressive culture, accessible nature, local food culture and innovative mindset. We want visiting Sweden to be about creating value, for you as our guest, for the local community and the planet.

In 2022, for the second year in a row, Sweden was listed as the most sustainable country in the world by Euromonitor International in its Sustainable Travel Index, as well as once again ranking number one in the Good Country Index, a measure of what countries contribute to the world outside their borders, and what they take away: their balance-sheet towards humanity and the planet.