Iceland Wants to Collect Your Screams and Release Them Into Its Remote Wilderness

Iceland’s tourism board has spotted an opportunity to market itself as a destination where you can do just that. In its latest spot, the first for Promote Iceland by M&C Saatchi Group, it invites travelers to go there and scream, as loud as they like, into the island nation’s stunning vast wilderness.

“Looks like you’ve been through a lot. It looks like you need to let it out somewhere big, beautiful and open. It looks like you need Iceland,” the film says.

The spot for the campaign, developed by sister agencies SS+K and M&C Saatchi U.K., shows several frustrated people in highly relatable lockdown situations–reeling at the gloomy news, staring at the TV but finding nothing good to watch, struggling to complete a jigsaw, and poorly cutting their own hair. As each releases a scream, they are transported to the Nordic nation.

Iceland began welcoming EU visitors back to the country on June 15, with the option of paying $63 to get tested for coronavirus upon arrival instead of a mandatory 14-day quarantine. U.S. residents are currently not allowed to visit Iceland or other nations in Europe due to America’s ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

For those who can’t get to the country physically, the campaign invites people to record their screams and upload them to LooksLikeYouNeedIceland.com for the tourism board to play them, loudly, in a remote location. That way, even if you can’t escape your situations, at least your frustrations can.

Those who do send in their screams can choose to have them played from seven destinations, including the peak of Festarfjall in Reykjanes Peninsula, the tranquil shores of Djúpivogur in East Iceland or the roaring Skógarfoss waterfall in the south.

The campaign will run in the US, U.K, Germany, Canada and Denmark for the next two weeks.

“Across the world, people have been through a lot in the last few months. We empathise and want to do what we can to help people relieve their frustrations,” said Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir, head of Visit Iceland. “We are lucky enough to have vast open spaces and beautiful nature that is the perfect place to let out frustrations. We feel this is just what the world needs. And when people are ready to resume traveling, they can come and experience it for themselves.”

CREDITS:

SS+K
Partner: Lenny Stern
Executive creative director: Stevie Archer
Managing director, production and operations: John Swartz
Agency and client lead: Amy Frisch
Account director: José Salgado
Agency producer: Craig von Wiederhold
Creative director: Daniel Bremmer
Senior strategist: Elena Claro
Managing director, strategy group: Kevin Skobac

M&C Saatchi UK
Senior copywriter: Camila Gurgel
Senior art director: Ieva Paulina:

Peel
Managing directors: Magnús Magnússon, Egill Thordarson
Designer: Einar Guðmundsson
Animator: Arnar Jónsson

M&C Saatchi TALK (Global PR Hub)
Global managing director: Chris Hides:
Director: Sophie Hayes
Senior associate director: Lauren Hunt-Morgan
Senior account manager: Jade Beaty
Account manager: Maia Quinn

Firefall
Founder, chief technologist: Scott Park
Producer: Nancy Tran

Skot Productions
Directors: Samuel & Gunnar
Executive producer: Hlynur Sigurðsson
Head of production / producer: Birna Paulina Einarsdóttir.