It's widely understood that Scandinavia is a haven of liberalism and sexual freedom. But a recent ad campaign created by the Danish government tourism agency is a bit misguided in employing a video clip in which a single mother seeks out the foreign man with whom she had a one night stand.

The ad, distributed by VisitDenmark, is a two and a half minute video clip featuring Danish actress Ditte Arnth Jorgensen and a Danish infant. Jorgensen plays the role of a single mother and explains to viewers that she's looking for the father of the child, a man with whom she drunkenly slept with but with whom she never kept in touch.

"We met one night a year and a half ago when you were on vacation here in Denmark," she says. "I don't remember where you're from or even your name."

Accordingly, the Danish government pulled the ad and removed the video from YouTube, citing its "tastelessness" and concluding that the clip portrays Scandinavia as a land where promiscuity is encouraged. If a viewer were uninformed as to the purpose of the ad, it would read more like a campaign for a paternity testing service or family planning center. Or perhaps the ad was simply targeting an untapped tourist faction of men hoping to impregnate women in different parts of the world.

Some Danes are backing the government's decision to remove the ad campaign while others are scrutinizing the choice for its relative prudishness. But whether or not the Danish government's decision was warranted is rather irrelevant. The bigger question remains: Why did VisitDenmark believe the peculiar video clip, which mentions nothing of Denmark or its people, would attract tourists? VisitDenmark's manager Dorte Kiilerich said she simply wanted to show a "nice and sweet story of a woman."

Mashable blogger Stan Schroeder writes that the ad campaign has done wonders at exciting and angering viewers. "However, an idea such as this can easily backfire. Many people believed the video was real, and expressed support for the single mother; they’re likely to be upset when they find out it was all a hoax. Looking at the angry comments on YouTube, this is exactly what has happened."

At the very least, the bizarre advertising tactic has got people thinking about Denmark -- the original YouTube clip received over 800,000 views in just a short stretch of time. In case you figured it was still unavailable, watch the BBC-distributed version of the clip here.