Dansk and the Promise of a Simple Scandinavian Life | Hacker News Reader

Dansk and the Promise of a Simple Scandinavian Life

newyorker.com

77 pointstintinnabula68 comments

Live in denmark and always found these kind of fawning articles kinda uncomfortable. Suppose it lays bare the same sort of nonsense inherent in "look at this unusual and mystical thing from japan" written for city folks that's just the same as a traditional practise in most parts of the world. It's all just marketing.

It's relatively harmless in other countries I think but its when people here start to genuinely mention how danish design is better or whatever that it's a bit much for me.

I'm swedish so give me a call and I will take you down a notch or two.

Isn’t this part of the plot of Danish series Kingdom Hospital? I always laughed my ass off at the sheer hatred the lead doctor has for the Danes. [0]

0 - https://youtu.be/YlTukY9fV9Y

A few years back I was getting a sales pitch from the CEO of a fairly large Swedish consultancy and he was telling me about the network of offices throughout Europe and then added "but not in Denmark, obviously".

I do find them a bit interesting, because they point out things I see as "normal" and have never thought twice about, but apparently can be weird for foreigners.

For instance how we in northern countries leave babies unattended in prams outside during winter. I've never considered that as something off, but then reading stories from other countries about our "crazy behavior" is a bit funny.

I moved to Finland, and became a parent. There were many surprises that I encountered with both of those actions - leaving the baby outdoors was definitely one of them.

But I was certainly willing to trust my wife, and other locals, when they said it was both common and reasonable.

That particular culture shock ends up much worse in reverse, unfortunately...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/26/anette-soren...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-restaurant-baby/swedish-w...

Wasn’t s nanny arrested for doing this in New York …?

/a Dane (still) living in Denmark :-)

Edit - yes she was; I see the link is further down this thread…

Well as someone who lives in a city who's violent crime just spiked, and wasn't exactly ideal before said spike, I've encountered enough unstable people on the street I wouldn't be comfortable leaving my baby outside a restaurant period, regardless of the weather.

It's not that there's some mustache-twirling baby-stealing cabal out there, it's that some people are just mentally ill/batshit crazy and do batshit crazy things. Even if they'll get caught, even if there's no rational benefit. They'll hurt themselves and bring you/your loved ones along for the ride. They're likely less than 1% of the population, but around enough that statistically you have to worry.

Similarly, if some stranger on the street asks me for the time I'm 90% sure they're just trying to get me to pull out my phone so they can snatch it, particularly if there's more than one of them.

The idea of living in a densely populated non-gated area where you can have zero fear of absolute strangers is alien to me. It's like saying there's a road you can drive down where no one ever tailgates, road rages, drives drunk or cuts off each other and everyone does a perfect zipper merge when required, and it's so consistent you can drive without worrying about any of the above on a daily basis. Craziness.

It's good marketing though. Denmark lucked out having some very successful/famous designers for a few decades and the government wants to capitalize on that. Maybe that goes against Danish sensibilities a bit (most Danes are pretty humble; bragging is taboo, etc.) but ultimately it's probably a boon for the economy?

I had no idea there was a brand called "Dansk", needless to say, it's entirely unknown in Denmark :)

Using the (DANSK|DAN) prefix to any branding in Denmark is common. And the funniest one is DanTaxi :). In Denmark, it is common to feel down for some days; at least, I feel down for some days during winter, and when I feel down, I look in the mirror and say, "DanTaxi." It is a natural mood lifter

Dan sukker, spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down

Or DanKort, which makes being a tourist in Denmark less than fun when you find places that take nothing else: https://www.dankort.dk/

It is true, very used as a prefix, but as a stand-alone name, I can't recall any, and certainly not a houseware brand.

Dansk Pilsner ;P

Also Dansk Folkeferie, Dansk Kabel TV, Dansk Retursystem, and Dansk Erhverv just from the top of my mind.

Dansk Pilsner is not named Dansk.. It's named Dansk Pilsner..

As I said in my original post, and the clarification, I've never encountered a brand that is named Dansk before this article about a brand called Dansk, which is an american brand making houseware.

Oh I missed your point about Dansk alone. Not really surprising that you have never seen a company called Dansk before. It would make no sense in Denmark.

One of the most common digestive liquor (a sort of Fernet Branca) is called "Gammel Dansk"

Let's not forget Danske Bank. A large bank which has seen better days.

They’re great at ‘cleaning’…

In curious, what makes "DanTaxi" funny? Is it the sound, similarly to another word, does it mean something, ...? I'm assuming you're Dan-ish :p

(I'm Swedish, if that helps the explanation)

You can assume I'm Dan-ish. But let me tell you something...In the old world we all are used to, I have been called Turkish several times...In the coming world order, I'm/will be someone important.

The Turks like to use 'Turk' as a branding prefix too e.g. Turkcell

also sparkling water being Dansk Vand (“Danish water”) is pretty odd

I always thought it was related to country names being used for different services from prostitutes, where danish is vanilla missionary. But apparently it is related to red soda being called swedish soda in the 30s.

At the time you could also get a "Swedish water".

https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/kultur/hvorfor-hedder-det-danskvan...

Especially since it isn't. It's danskvand, one word, general noun, no capitalisation.

Thanks for the correction!

I have underpants from "Danish Endurance". Not sure why they are called like that. Haha. :-D Are they common in Danmark? Jeg er let nysgerrig.

That seems to be a Danish brand of athletic/performance clothing[1]. Founded by a runner who wanted better options.

[1]: https://danishendurance.com/pages/danish-endurance-our-brand

They are sold under the name Kjeldsen in Denmark.

Until recently Jysk was called Dänisches Bettenlager (danish bed warehouse), probably because Jysk doesn't exactly roll off the tongue for German speakers.

For an English speaker to pronounce "Jysk" something approaching the correct way, they should read something between "Yusk" and "Yoosk". For a German maybe "Jüsk".

It means Jutlandic (jütisch).

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jysk

The 'y' letter is the close front rounded vowel, which is just plain missing from the most common english dialects, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_front_rounded_vowel#Occu...

Until recently, JYSK was also called Jysk Sengetøjslager (= bettenlager) in Denmark. I think the rebranding to JYSK was just about making the name shorter and the same everywhere.

The story of an American housewares brand marketed as if it was Danish. Not an uncommon approach in marketing.

In Norway I’ve seen commercials for skincare and beauty products that are marketed as being made by experts from France.

When I’ve been to France I’ve seen commercials for skin care and beauty products marketed as being made by experts from Norway.

I guess a bit of a foreign touch adds some excitement and mystery. But it’s kind of funny how the same two countries are being used in opposite directions.

France is a keyword for luxury and sophistication, Norway for natural and earthy.

Hmm can't agree on this one, have you been to France a lot? Sophisticated foods can be found but thats about it for sophistication, and for luxury you better head out ie to neighboring Switzerland.

On the other hand, France has exquisite nature and basically all possible landscapes (sand dunes, sub tropical forests, wineyeards, beautiful coasts, tons of mountains all the way up to rugged glaciated peaks). Norway is nice but not as diverse.

The beauty and haute couture industries are still very much France based. Grasse, for instance is the home of perfumery.

‘Keyword’ is the operative word in grandparent. That is how France is perceived, regardless of whether that fits reality or not.

I guess it depends on whether you are talking about experiencing luxury or buying luxury products - in the latter case I'd say that France is a clear leader - food, drinks, fashion, even extreme high-end cars...

It doesn’t have to be true. It’s just that people outside France often buy this kind of marketing.

It’s like in 90s in Russia everyone was crazy about so-called “European renovation” of their apartments. The materials and styles they used had zero resemblance to what you see in a quality Scandinavian or western-European home. Moreover, people who move from Eastern Europe get disillusioned when they see e.g. that many for-rent German apartments are crap(black mold on the walls is something very common).

So in essence, these “country X” brands have nothing to do with reality. But stereotypes are strong especially if you’re live far away.

If you are in Paris and walk through Champs-Élysées you will feel more luxury than walking down the 5th avenue in NY because brands design the stores in an impactful way. For example compare the building [1] with [2].

[1] https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/what-to-do-in-paris/shopping...

[2] https://nypost.com/2023/01/13/louis-vuitton-installs-yayoi-k...

As a French person, every one of my American colleagues who's been to Switzerland was surprised how much better the food is on the french side of the alps.

haha yeah, I see the flag on Neutrogena products, an American company that was bought by J&J in '94

The mystery to me is why Italian clothing brand Napapijri uses Norwegian flag, that's just unashamed cultural appropriation

Especially when the brandname sounds like bastardized Finnish for "Arctic circle", "Napapiiri".

It got even more silly when Napapijri sued a French clothing company called Geographical Norway for trademark infringement for also using a Norwegian flag on their logo.

my goodness, I spent literally my whole life thinking they were actually Norwegian. Thank you for dispelling that illusion

ohh I can tell you about famous norwegian fishermen from home country :).

Norway has a famous clothing brand simply named "Jean Paul". I've seen a lot of middle managers wearing clothes from this brand every single day. I've even worked with Norwegians thinking it was Jean-Paul Gaultier's own brand. This brand is unknown in France.

Meanwhile in France, every food which has (smoked) salmon on it will be called "Norwegian XXX". Pizza with salmon? It's a "pizza norvégienne". Salad with salmon? It's a "salade norvégienne". The only outlier here is the "omelette norvégienne" which is neither an omelette nor has salmon in it. It's a cake! Also known as "Baked Alaska" in the USA?

Ah, glace au four [1] as we say in Sweden (yes really). Food etymology is the best.

[1] https://sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glace_au_four

Haha, thanks for sharing, I had no idea! :)

Before the Helsinki Accords on human rights, there was the Helsinki Formula for men, promoted by Robert Vaughn (alias ex-UNCLE agent Napoleon Solo).

It was actually based on minor success in Helsinki University. In 1970s there was real Finglish speaking female professor explaining the issues. Those ads become more obnoxious only later promising "Love and Romance".

I've also seen clothing brands in Northern Europe marketed as Pacific Northwest lifestyle brands that, AFAICT, don't exist in the Pacific Northwest. It makes perfect sense to leverage regional brands that so concisely capture the aspirational vibes you want to attach to your product.

Of course, the global brands of small regions are themselves the product of coordinated marketing campaigns and rarely organic.

Häagen-Dazs anyone?

Haagen-Dass means "Shithouse in the Garden".

similarly, I chuckle when I see big "BBQ Marshmallows" in a charcoal bag sold at Aldi in Ireland. They're great for campfires but I wouldn't have thought to have them at a BBQ.

I still regret not buying the shirt at Primark that said "California: Empire State" or the hat emblazoned with "UCLA" in USC colours.

This is about housewares and design, if people are curious.

Thanks. Skipping!

https://archive.ph/KsntF

The UX there is pretty bad (I'm just normal user). Opens tab in the background, goes to read after a while. See large picture and single paragraph of text. Hmm weird (no info it's subscription based or whatever). Opens again and there's full content available until some laggard JS hides it.

You're describing almost every paywalled news site ever. This is also how browser extensions can present the information without paying for a subscription.

I'm describing how bad this particular paywall is implemented. Fyi some paywalls will server-side render the article excerpt only. No way to bypass it without active subscription.

C-f "cultural appropriation"... nope.

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