Sweden needs your help...

Gee, I suppose it doesn’t help that both countries’ flags have a cross … albeit with very different colors, and not quite the same design.

WOW! I have never heard of people confusing Switzerland and Sweden.

Even the fact that both countries use a cross on their flag doesn't make it any confusing. The colours are different, and the shape of the flags are different! Switzerland's flag is unusual in that it's a square. Sweden's like most country uses a rectangular flag. They are geographically nowhere near each other. And one should be known stereotypically for watches, chocolates and mountains whereas the other one isn't stereotypically famous for any of those.

How bizarre? What populations are confusing the two?

How bizarre? What populations are confusing the two?

Half of all americans it seems like. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaitlynmcinnis/2023/10/26/new-study-shows-that-50-of-americans-mix-up-sweden-and-switzerland/?sh=51f55c9d57d8

And it's not the first time people are making fun of it, here is a Swiss comedian explaining the difference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZTOmg72Sk0

@Badger, how very interesting! Never would I have guessed people would confuse Switzerland and Sweden!

I can imagine potential confusion between Canada and US, for example, only because from a certain perspective the two could be seen as similar. But confusing Switzerland and Sweden to me seems like confusing, say, Japan with the UK.

Swedes, count your blessings. It could be worse.

A popular t-shirt I saw while traveling in the Tyrol: Austria: No kangaroos!

And upon returning home from a visit to the Faroe Islands, after the inevitable questions, I had to explain to friends more than a few times:
"No pyramids, no camels, no King Tut, and you don't have to walk like an Egyptian."

Ignorance is bliss.

marketeers will say anything to generate traffic, both internet traffic and footfall...

” How bizarre? What populations are confusing the two?”
“Half of all americans it seems like.”

Well that explains it. Half of Americans can’t even name all of our 50 states, their capitals, and where they’re each located on a map!

That video was very funny.

I wonder if this was in preparation for next year’s Eurovision. It reminded of some of the humorous videos about Sweden that came out the last couple of times that they hosted.

Perhaps the Swedes can at least be grateful that they had ABBA, and the Swiss just as grateful that they didn't.

I can't imagine anyone mixing up those two countries. The premise of this campaign and the video sound like a bit of a marketing gimmick.

In some languages, the two country names sound more alike than in English, basically turning into an Austria/Australia situation.
Spanish has Suiza (SWEE-sa) for Switzerland and Suecia (SWEH-sia) for Sweden; Portuguese is basically the same with different spelling.
In French, Italian or German the two countries sound more different than in Spanish but still more similar than in English.

Maybe that's why they felt compelled to write about it?

@Balso I was just about to make the comment about how they are similar in Spanish.

Of course it is part of a marketing campaign. But I think that there are two levels of confusion. The first is the similarity of names, and in a moment they can be confused, but the underlying knowledge is correct. Like the president last year:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoISP8kY_uw

The other level is that of people who do not know geography as @Badger showed.

like clickbait - it has be successful at being noticed and getting people to look and talk about it

Well, the African country of Swaziland did change its name to Eswatini in part because they kept being confused with Switzerland. So there's that. If the Swedes (and Swiss) are serious about this confusion (which of course they aren't), an easy fix would be just to trade country names. Sweden will become Switzerland, and vice-versa, leading to:
Swedish Miss cocoa.
Swiss meatballs.
Swedish cheese.
The famous but secretive Swedish banking system.
The Swedish Guard at the Vatican.
Swedish chocolate.
The Swedish Alps.
Those famous Swiss institutions of Abba, Ikea and Volvo.
Switzerland applying to join NATO.