November 24, 2024
Haaland or Halland? Fans asked to spellcheck tweets
One is a Premier League footballer who has scored 22 goals in 15 games this season, the other a Swedish region known for its beaches.
Completely unalike, yet online they are being confused.
A simple spelling error means anyone searching for Halland – on the Swedish coast – is likely to instead find countless photos of footballer Erling Braut Haaland.
And the head of the Swedish tourist board for the region has had enough.
Visit Halland director Jimmy Sandberg has written an open letter asking English people, journalists and football fans worldwide to hit the spellcheck before hitting send.
“We are Halland. He is Haaland. The popularity of the football phenomenon is completely suffocating our online presence,” he wrote.
“To our despair, we now see that all of our efforts promoting Halland are rapidly being wiped away.
“If nothing is done, we fear our dear region is at risk of becoming a forgotten Atlantis, a place only known in stories and ancient scriptures.”
A search on Instagram brings up pictures of the footballer – as well as Turkish player Abdulkerim Bardakci
Mr Sandberg told BBC News: “When you write in Halland, looking for the beautiful region where we live in Sweden, you get Haaland all over the place.
“Since Haaland arrived at Manchester City and scored all those goals, we have been overwhelmed by his presence in our hashtags and in search engines.”
Even Google is unconvinced searches for the Swedish region are intentional
In case there remains any confusion, we’ve put together a cheat sheet you can refer to if you need help telling the difference between the two:
- Haaland (double “a”, single “l”) – footballer usually seen scoring goals for Manchester City
- Halland (double “l”, single “a”) – region in Sweden just south of Gothenburg
But the two may be mixed up even more, as Sandberg has extended his hospitality to Haaland in a bid to settle the issue for once and for all.
“We’d love him to come here,” he said. “A lot of Norwegians do come here every year, so he would feel right at home.
“See you next summer in Halland, Haaland?” – bbc.com
