‘We were quite surprised’: Finland’s embassy goes viral with staff training day post on Instagram
Summary
Finland’s embassy in Canberra unexpectedly attracted global attention after an Instagram post said it would close for a staff training day on 10 November 2026. The post gained millions of views and inspired response videos, and the embassy reopened the next day.Key Facts
- The embassy said it would be temporarily closed on Tuesday, 10 November, and resume regular hours on Wednesday, 11 November.
- Its closure announcement used video of the northern lights.
- By the time of the article, the post had received 622,000 likes and 405,000 shares, with up to 10 million views.
- Ambassador Arto Haapea said the team was surprised by the post’s reach.
- Haapea suggested the post may have benefited from the same Instagram algorithm that boosted an earlier embassy video about a competition for a Finnish dinner date.
- The dinner date video received 8 million views and 163,000 likes, according to Haapea.
- Social media users, Finnish officials and diplomats posted jokes or videos about the temporary closure.
- The embassy reopened on Wednesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
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