This Danish ad asks moms to send their adult children on sexy vacations so they'll have kids
A Danish travel agency is offering incentives for moms to send their adult children on “active vacations” to sunny locations with their partners, where—in theory—they’re more likely to have sex and get pregnant.
Denmark is battling a falling birthrate, which means supporting an aging population more dependent on support from social welfare. It also means fewer working-age people in the country overall. In 2013, the birth rate was 10 per 1,000 Danish people, a 27-year low according to the campaign.
“If they won’t do it for their country, surely they will do it for their mother,” the ad says:
This one goes a step further than last year’s “Do It For Denmark” campaign by the same agency, Spies Travel, which implored Danes to please get it on and make more babies. This time it’s targeted at getting mothers to hassle their kids about giving them grandchildren.“In spite of some progress in 2014, there are still not enough babies being born in Denmark. This puts both our welfare society and Spies’ future business under pressure. Still, those who suffer the most are the mothers who may never experience the joy of having a grandchild. But don’t despair,” says the campaign’s website.
The ad’s montage of a couple ogling each other while they do yoga, play golf, and lift weights is getting at the idea that buying a sporty vacation through Spies Travel will get aging mothers the grandchildren they so desperately want, if the campaign is to be believed.
“We all know that the Danes have 51% more sex on a sunny holiday compared to their everyday life, and new studies show that when couples workout together they have even more sex,” the campaign website tells us, though we’re not sure where that stat is from. “Consequently, we now offer the Spies Parent Purchase. Send your child and his/her partner on an active holiday and increase your chances of getting a grandchild.”
Denmark isn’t the only country trying unconventional tactics to get people to have babies in the name of combating falling birthrates:
Iran’s government launched a dating site to get people married, the Singaporean government (in partnership with Mentos?!) launched a similar campaign, and Russia offered prizes to people who timed their baby’s birth with their national holiday.
Can governments and travel agencies really get people in the mood? It’s probably too early to say. Meanwhile, the Danish campaign is at the very least getting a reaction on Twitter:
If we wont do it for our nation, at least we can do it for our moms!https://t.co/hSw8WT3tCZ#doitformom @spiesrejser pic.twitter.com/LkJsAEVBiE
— Karl-Johan (@karljohan7) September 30, 2015