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US men date 60 Swedish women in new TV show

Love-hungry American men will date a bevy of Swedish women in a new programme to hit Sweden's TV screens on Tuesday night. The Local finds out more about their search for love across the Atlantic.

US men date 60 Swedish women in new TV show

The programme, Kärlek över Atlanten (‘Love Across The Atlantic’), follows three men from the United States as they speed-date 20 different Swedish women in hopes of scoring a Nordic girlfriend.

IN PICTURES: Get a closer look at the contestants

“The programme is a Swedish version of a successful Norwegian format (Sønner av Norge). Considering Sweden’s history with its sizable emigration to the US, it seemed like an exciting chance to give the programme format a chance here,” Programme Director Fredrik Lundberg told The Local.

“The viewers will be able to follow an emotional journey from Sweden to San Francisco with a lot of laughs, romance, tension, and nice scenery.”

One of the male contestants, the somewhat aptly named Mitchell Valentine, is a 33-year-old web designer from San Francisco.

“My grandfather was born in Sweden,” he said in a statement. “Swedish women are known for being among the most beautiful and intelligent in the world. The Swedish women I’ve known have all been adventurous, smart, well-educated, and really attractive.”

Meanwhile, Luke De Lorme, a 38-year-old IT entrepreneur, is on the lookout for someone resembling a young Sharon Stone. He remained crystal clear about what he was searching for in a Swedish woman.

“I have a heap of Ikea furniture at home that needs to be put together and I want some help,” he said.

In the eleven-part series, which premieres at 9pm on Tuesday night on Sweden’s TV3, the three Americans will travel to Sweden where they then take part in speed dates with 20 different women.

The men then choose four women each whom they bring back to the US in the hope that true love blossom across the Atlantic.

Over the course of the series, the men will narrow down their choice to just one Swedish woman.

In the show’s finale, the couples will then fly back to Sweden together to meet the families of the winning Swedish women and make the decision that could change their lives forever – to live happily ever after in the US, or Sweden.

The American contestants discuss how they dealt with any communication barriers

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HEALTH

IN PICTURES: 7 of the French government’s sexiest public health adverts

An advertising campaign aimed at convincing young people to get the Covid vaccine has attracted international attention, but it’s not the first time that French authorities have sexed up their public health messaging.

IN PICTURES: 7 of the French government's sexiest public health adverts
Image: AIDES.

It’s an international cliché that France is the land of l’amour – or at least the land of le sexe – and that reputation does seem to be justified, given how often French public health bodies have turned to sex in an attempt to get their message across.

From the suggestive to the downright scandalous, here are seven examples of health campaigns which relied on that oh so French fondness for romance.

Get vaccinated, get laid

The Covid campaign in question was created by regional health authorities in the southern Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur region.

The poster which has got people hot under the collar features two very attractive and very French-looking people kissing, seemingly in the back of a cab after a night on the town. “Yes, the vaccine can have desirable effects,” it says.

The campaign has proved so popular that it will soon be expanded.

Promoting road safety

Earlier this year, the French Road Safety Delegation released a video ahead of Valentine’s Day, which showed a couple sharing an intimate moment in the bedroom.

The full 30-second video featured the slogan, “Life is better than one last drink for the road”.

Another image of two people kissing, seemingly without clothes, included the line, “Life, love. On the road, don’t forget what truly matters.”

Fight against HIV/AIDS

While the link between road safety and sex isn’t immediately obvious, less surprising are the references to intimacy in the health ministry’s HIV awareness campaign from 2016.

Each of the different posters shows two men embracing. Straplines include, “With a lover, with a friend, with a stranger. Situations vary, and so do the protective measures.”

The posters shocked conservative sensibilities, and several right-wing mayors asked for them to be taken down in their towns. 

HIV awareness campaign

Just a few days after the controversy over the ministry’s posters ignited, the non-profit AIDES launched its own campaign, and it didn’t hold back.

The posters showed scuba instructors, piano teachers and parachutists, all of them naked alongside their students. The slogan: “People undergoing treatment for HIV have a lot of things to pass onto us. But the AIDS virus isn’t one.”

“Even if we’ve been spreading this information since 2008, we realise that a lot of people don’t know that antiviral treatments prevent spreading,” head of AIDES Aurélien Beaucamp told France Info.

“People are still afraid of those who are HIV-positive.” 

Government-mandated pornography

It’s common for sexualised advertising campaigns to be labelled pornographic by critics, but in 1998, the French government went a step further and created actual pornography.

READ ALSO Language of love – 15 of the best romantic French phrases

The health ministry commissioned TV station Canal Plus to create five short erotic films to encourage the use of condoms and prevent the spread of HIV. The campaign featured up-and-coming directors such as Cedric Klapisch and Gaspar Noé.

“The only possible way to look at, to get people to protect themselves, is to show, show everything, show simply and without creating an obsession of the sexual act and the act of wearing a condom,” Klapisch said, according to an Associated Press story published at the time. 

You didn’t really think we’d include images of this one, did you? (OK, here’s a link for those who are curious).

A controversial anti-smoking campaign

https://twitter.com/MarketainmentSE/status/212863393143586817

It’s time to forget what we said about romance, because there is nothing romantic about this 2010 campaign from the Droits des Non-Fumeurs (Non-smokers’ rights) association and the BDDP & Fils communications agency.

The campaign featured several images of young people with a cigarette in their mouths, looking up at an adult man who rested his hand on their heads. The cigarette appeared to be coming out of the man’s trousers.

The slogan said, “Smoking means being a slave to tobacco”. The association said the sexual imagery was meant to get the attention of young people who were desensitised to traditional anti-smoking messages, but the posters caused outrage, with members of the government publicly criticising the choice of imagery.

Celebrating LGBTQ+ love

On the other end of the spectrum is this very romantic video from the national health agency Santé Publique France. It was released on May 17th 2021, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, and was part of a campaign against anti-LGBT discrimination and violence. It is set to Jean-Claude Pascal’s Nous les amoureux

Showing a diverse range of couples kissing, holding hands, and healing each other’s wounds, the video ends on the word play: “In the face of intolerance, it’s up to us to make the difference.”

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