Visit Sweden wants you to know that Bolmen is not just an IKEA toilet brush
Sweden is taking back its flat-packed furniture – or at least the names, many of which really belong to fantastic destinations in nature.
There is much more in Sweden than its most famous cultural exports – Abba, IKEA, Swedish meatballs – and a new tourism campaign with “blinking eyes” wants you to know that.
What do a toilet brush and a beautiful Swedish lake have in common, it wonders? Both share the same name, but Bolmen has for years been better known as a toilet brush sold by the furniture giant, instead of a picturesque lake in southern Sweden.
– In Sweden, we are proud of IKEA and in a way you can say that they helped us make Swedish places world famous through the names they lent to their products, says Nils Persson, marketing manager at Visit Sweden.
“Now we want, with warmth and a twinkle in the eye, to show the originals behind the product names and invite the world to discover the whole of Sweden.”
The name of the game: Has IKEA worsened Sweden’s natural environment?
The popularity of IKEA’s kitchen utensils means that the Swedish places they are named after are often lost in online searches.
Visit Sweden says that there are 21 iconic places across the country that you want to put back on the map.
With almost 270,000 islands and a total of 95,700 lakes and generous right of public access, there are so many starting points for your holiday 2022.
Some local areas take their names back in a unique way. Bolmen has launched a new slogan: “Bolmen – more than an IKEA brush” on a sign to help travelers find the peaceful place by the lake.
Magnus Gunnarsson, chairman of Smålands Sjörike and member of the municipal council in Ljungby, points out that Bolmen’s “crystal clear” water could not be further from the toilet association.
“We appreciate that IKEA has named a product our beautiful lake and that Visit Sweden draws attention to this globally. But now we want to show the world that Bolmen is so much more than an object that you clean your toilet with.
“It is an incredibly beautiful place, much loved by us locals. We want to invite the whole world to spend time in our wonderful, unspoiled nature, show the same care as we do and enjoy the crystal clear water “, he says.
21 places were taken back by Sweden
As ABBA will start its comeback tour next year, The Swedish Tourist Board would like to welcome tourists back.
Sweden, they say, offers a smorgasbord of destinations and memorable experiences. These include everything from Viking monuments to picturesque towns, castles and silver mines, with activities from rafting to dog sledding, fly fishing and ice swimming.
If you feel inspired to get up from your Grönlid (IKEA sofa) and embark on a Nordic adventure, here are the 21 places to get acquainted with.
- Järvfjället, a mountain in Swedish Lapland (game chair)
- Bolmen, a large lake in the Småland region in southern Sweden (toilet brush)
19. Extorp, a suburb of Stockholm (sofa)
18. Skärhamn, a fishing village on the island of Tjörn off the coast of western Sweden (door handle)
17. Stubbarp, a manor house in Skåne in southern Sweden (cabinet legs)
16. Ingatorp, A village where you will find one of Sweden’s oldest wooden buildings, in the Småland region (pull-out table)
15. Höljes, one of Sweden’s most sparsely populated areas, a forest in the Värmland region (pendant lamp)
14. Hemsjö, a village in the Blekinge area (block light)
13. Toftan, a lake in Dalarna (trash can)
12. Mästerby, a historic battlefield on Gotland (a stair stool)
11. Voxnan, a river with waterfalls and rapids in the Hälsingland area (shower shelf)
10. Himleån, ravines in the Halland region (bath towels)
9. Laxviken, a village in Jämtland Härjedalen (cupboard door)
- Kallax, a coastal village near Luleå in Swedish Lapland (storage shelf)
7. Misterhult, an archipelago with 2,000 islands near Kalmar in the Småland region (a bamboo lamp)
6. Vrena, a village near the east coast in the Sörmland region (countertop)
5. Björksta, a village near the university city of Uppsala (picture with frame)
4. Norberg, a small town in the Västmanland region (folding table)
3. Askersund, a small town near Örebro in Central Sweden (cupboard door)
Rimforsa, a small village in Östergötland in eastern Sweden (workbench)
1. Bodviken, a mountain lake in the High Coast’s UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Sweden (washbasin)