Swedish Tourism Lets You Call 1 Number, Talk To Random Swedes

Did you ever get bored and had the urge to talk to a random Swedish number out of the blue? If you've ever had a fantasy that specific and, frankly, odd, then dream no more. Sweden has just answered your prayers. Boasting to be the first country to have its own, official, national phone number, the Swedish government is inviting anyone and everyone outside of Sweden to dial +46 771 793 336 (or +46 771 SWEDEN) and get the chance to talk about anything and everything with a random Swede.

Of course, there is no official international body that bequeathes official phone numbers to each member country. The phone number is simply a specially crafted number, with Sweden's name in it, that is directly connected to a switchboard behind the scenes. That switchboard then connects the caller to a randomly connected Swede anywhere inside the country. It's like an old-school telephone version of chat roulette, except for more innocent goals.

Yes, don't worry, this isn't a scam. Sounding almost like a movie title, "The Swedish Number" is actually a project of the Swedish Tourist Association to promote, well, tourism. It hopes callers who go out of their way, not to mention pockets, to call strangers in Sweden would talk about local stuff along with anything under the sun. It is somewhat amusing that the group decided to time the launch of this campaign to celebrate the 250th year since Sweden became the first government to constitutionally abolish censorship. How the two relate is up to the reader's creativity perhaps.

And if you're a Swede, don't worry. You won't suddenly receive calls from a stranger half-way around the world in the middle of the night. Only those who sign up for the campaign get to be selected. They also get to be called "ambassadors". The Swedish Number has so far clocked in 10938 calls since it launched in April 6, accumulating 19 days worth of phone calls in less than 2 days.

SOURCE: The Swedish Number