PHOTOS: Ridiculously adorable sweater-clad ponies shill for Scotland tourism
If this doesn't make you want to visit the United Kingdom, nothing will


If you were in charge of your country's tourism initiative, how would you encourage foreigners to visit? Last year, America began actively reaching out to tourists with a feel-good media blitz that included videos of Roseanne Cash singing with an incredibly diverse band of musicians. Reviews of the campaign were largely positive, however, in hindsight, the ads were missing one crucial element: Animals in sweaters. That's the pure-genius approach being employed by the Scottish tourism board in its Year of Natural Scotland 2013 campaign. The initiative finds a pair of adorably squat, shaggy Shetland ponies named Fivia and Vitamin outfitted in the country's classic knitwear. Naturally, the photos have gone viral. Shetland ponies wearing Shetland winter woolies? Scotland, here I come. Behold:
See the entire photo shoot at VisitScotland.com.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.
-
Grenfell: Uncovered – a searing account of an avoidable tragedy
The Week Recommends Netflix's feature-length documentary brings together an array of witnesses whose grief 'bleeds off the screen'
-
The rise of performative reading
In The Spotlight Why Gen Z may only be pretending to read those clever books
-
Exploring Georgia's southern highlands
The Week Recommends Visit Javakheti, Georgia's 'lake district', and meet the last-remaining 'spirit wrestlers' in the region