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'Angry note' ad campaign has neighbours fuming

TT/Joel Linde
TT/Joel Linde - [email protected]
'Angry note' ad campaign has neighbours fuming

A major Swedish radio station seems to have caused neighbourly discord throughout the country with a ‘miscalculated’ ad campaign.

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Sunday is neighbour’s day (Grannens dag), a young Swedish tradition which was implemented to encourage people to honour the ones next door with a little something extra.

But an ad campaign targeted at Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö seems to have interrupted the friendly tradition.

Thousands of people in the Swedish cities have been shocked to find what appears to be a hand-written note in their mailboxes, expressing anger and discontent.

“There’s not that much wrong with your taste in music, but SERIOUSLY, AT 3AM I PREFER TO SLEEP!!” the note read, signed by “The neighbour”.

What many didn’t see, however, was the actual sender’s signature was radio station Rix FM.

The radio station posted a public apology on its website, where they take responsibility for the “misunderstanding”, prompting an outpouring of angry comments.

“Rix FM has once again passed the low-water mark,” one upset user wrote.

“We had to go to my mother-in-law, 92, since she was devastated she had bothered her neighbours even though she sleeps at night... She’s now afraid to face the neighbors since they said they’ve been bothered by her,” he continued.

Rix FM spokesperson Per Lorentz admitted to the Göteborgs Posten (GP) newspaper that the campaign was “miscalculated” and apologized.

But few seem to be content with the online apologies, primarily because they will be unlikely to reach elderly people affected by the campaign.

And judging by the angry comments on the website, older Swedes are among those worst affected.

“You go out and apologize on your website. How many elderly people do you think read that? Shame on you Rix FM!!!,” one wrote.

But those expecting an apology in the mail might be frustrated to learn the only thing that’s certain is that more people will get the accusatory notes in their mail boxes, as the Rix FM campaign is set to reach almost every home in the three cities.

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