Zuckerberg replies to Iceland tourism’s Facebook Meta parody Icelandverse

When Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of Meta, it was only a matter of time until the copycats came along – and this one has instantly gone viral.

When Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of Meta in October it was only a matter of time until the copycats came along.

However, it seems they haven’t come from Silicon Valley but Scandinavia.

A tourism video released yesterday by Inspired by Iceland has gone viral for parodying the announcement Facebook’s CEO made last month.

Created as part of a marketing campaign for Icelandic tourism, the video features an uncanny Zuckerberg lookalike, sporting the iconic Caesar haircut, minimalist clothing and unwavering wide-eyed gaze.

Welcome to Icelandverse – perhaps the best tourism parody we have seen.

In the original video, Zuckerberg described the “metaverse” as a virtual world that will be the “the successor to the mobile internet” and will feel like you’re actually with other people.

However, Icelandic Zuckerberg proposes an alternative called “Icelandverse,” a place of “enhanced actual reality without silly looking headsets”.

“Today I want to talk about a revolutionary approach on how to connect our world – without being super weird,” the actor says directly to the camera.

The video goes on to promote Iceland’s “completely immersive” experiences, like real rocks, humans and “skies you can see with your eyeballs”.

Welcome to Icelandverse – perhaps the best tourism parody we have seen.

It appears officials are also in on the joke.

Head of Visit Iceland, Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir said “Icelandverse has been built with experts in government, industry, nature and academia, plus a few volcanoes.”

Comical and timely, the video has gone viral and gained an overwhelmingly positive response as viewers applauded the Iceland officials’ “Olympic-level trolling”.

*Love* this olympic-level trolling. "In the Icelandverse, we have... skies you can see - with your eyeballs" https://t.co/wz21pvRkmI

— Neil Ward-Dutton (@neilwd) November 11, 2021

Others joined in on the joke, tweeting their experience of ‘using Icelandverse’.

Just used Icelandverse, 10/10, would recommend. Even my bruises are real. Also I'm pretty sure I saw more rainbows than the entire rest of my life combined. pic.twitter.com/aP4VgKarZj

— Megan 💙🌹🏳️‍🌈 (@corbiecore) November 12, 2021

In a true mark of success, the video even gained a response from Zuckerberg himself, who called the joke ‘amazing’ and said he needed to visit soon.

Some said an open-world experience this immersive wasn’t possible. But it’s already here. And you don’t even need silly VR headsets.

Introducing, ✨Icelandverse✨#icelandversepic.twitter.com/b1cf1REKl9

— Inspired by Iceland (@iceland) November 11, 2021

This article originally appeared on the New Zealand Herald and has been republished with permission