“A real Swedish Christmas has German spruce, Dutch saffron bread and a Turkish Santa”, the Swedish department store chain Åhléns has claimed in a new advertising campaign aimed at celebrating diversity. However, this multicultural push didn’t hit home with all Swedes.
A unique diversity-celebrating tapestry marketed by the store chain Åhléns as part of its Christmas campaign has made many Swedes see red. While some pointed out that the claim that Santa is Turkish inaccurate, others were insulted by the general tone of the campaign perceived as “anti-Swedish”, “self-hating” and “masochistic”.