MPs propose requiring all advertising to be in Icelandic

A group of Icelandic MPs has proposed requiring advertisements to be in Icelandic, rather than requiring them to appeal to Icelandic consumers, Morgunblaðið reports. Snorri Másson, deputy chairman of the Centre Party, presented the bill to amend marketing laws.

The bill is co-sponsored by Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, Þorgrímur Sigmundsson, Karl Gauti Hjaltason and Nanna Margrét Gunnlaugsdóttir. Its explanatory notes say advertisements should “simply be in Icelandic” without a separate requirement that they appeal to Icelandic consumers.

The notes cite the Icelandic Language Council and say it is difficult to see how advertisements within Icelandic jurisdiction could fail to appeal to Icelandic consumers. The article says advertisements appearing only in English have become more common, including in central Reykjavík.

Snorri said many people had grown tired of the trend. He described English-only advertising as humiliating for locals and unappealing to visitors, adding that Icelandic authorities had failed to address the issue for decades. He said there were international precedents for such legislation and called restrictions a matter of national self-respect.