An innocuous social media post by Finland's embassy in Canberra has become an unlikely viral meme, attracting millions of views and reaching the highest levels of government in both countries.
"I have confirmed to the Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese that the Finnish Embassy in Canberra is open," Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in a selfie posted with Albanese at the COP31 climate summit in Türkiye on Thursday morning AEDT.
The president was referring to an announcement three days earlier by the Finnish embassy in Canberra that it would be closed on Tuesday for a team planning event.
Set to a jaunty piano tune and accompanied by a video of the northern lights, the post was simply a light-hearted public service announcement.
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But thanks to the unpredictable nature of social media algorithms, the seemingly mundane announcement took on a life of its own, attracting more than 11 million views on Instagram and hundreds of thousands of likes.
Social media users were quick to embrace the meme, flooding the comments section with tongue-in-cheek responses.
"Bad day to be a Finnish embassy in Canberra enthusiast," one said.
"Is everything ok? Call if you need me," said another.
Other Finnish embassies also joined in on the joke.
"For anyone affected by this closure, the Embassy of Finland in Prague will be open as usual tomorrow," the Czech Republic embassy said.
Finland's ambassador to Australia, Arto Haapea, said the embassy was taking the viral moment in its stride.
"We started the planning day quite normally. We went through what a successful year we had this year, all the visits and then how do we build on that for next year," he told ABC News breakfast on Thursday.
"Then people started getting messages like, hang on, there's something happening on Instagram and elsewhere."
He said the response had been overwhelmingly positive.
"Everybody was saying that Finland has never been this big in the news. The other thing, Canberra has never been this big on the market either; maybe it's a positive for everyone," he said.
The embassy followed up with a tongue-in-cheek ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday to mark the reopening.
"After 24 harrowing hours, international expressions of grief and an unprecedented outpouring of solidarity, the Embassy of Finland in Canberra has officially reopened after its temporary closure on 10 November 2026," it said on social media.
Previous posts by the page had attracted fewer than 100 likes, but Haapea said the embassy was now attracting real-life visitors.
"Yesterday there was actually a fair bit of traffic outside the embassy, lots of people were coming to take pictures and we put some brochures outside to make sure we spread the Finnish propaganda at the same time. That was all good," he said.
It's not the first time Finland has found itself in the social media spotlight.
Last month, the country's state-owned tourism agency launched a viral campaign inviting 16 singles from around the world to Helsinki for what it billed as the "most epic dinner date".
Called Love at First Bite, the campaign aimed to bring strangers together over a candlelit dinner showcasing Finnish cuisine, with the possibility of finding love.
