Music
Snoop Dogg accidentally put a tiny Romanian town on the map
by Jeremy Mersereau
March 21, 2016
Snoop accidentally shouted out Bogata, Romania and the town turned it into a tourism campaign.
Photo via JonBauer85
Never exactly known for his attention to detail, Snoop Dogg’s latest, presumably weed-induced minor oversight has invigorated a tiny Romanian village. You know what they say: one man’s weed haze blunder is one central European hamlet’s vital tourism-dollar lifeblood. I think they say that, anyway.
Snoop was attempting to tag an Instagram photo as being taken in Bogotá, Colombia, where the rapper had been, but instead managed to tag himself as being in the tiny village of Bogata, Romania. It only took days for Bogata to capitalize on their newfound popularity with a website, Visit Bogata, complete with the most hilariously specific tourism slogan of all time: “Snoop Dogg checked in to Bogata by mistake – but you don’t have to!” Well, beats Hackensack, New Jersey’s anyway – “We think The Boss drove through here once – but you can pull on over!”
While in Bogata, travellers can check out the Common Grave of the Romanian WWII Heroes, eat some traditional Gulyás stew, and – oh man this is the kicker – visit the birthplace of Romanian immunologist Iuliu Moldovan! BRB, booking my ticket as we speak.
Possible dealbreaker: as the website makes clear, there are no hotels for travellers within the 2,000-population village, and visitors will have to bring a sleeping bag or “ask a villager for housing.” I don’t know if a better shorthand for globalization exists than a dazed Snoop Dogg fan asking a baffled Central European if they can blaze one in the delightfully rustic kitchen.
The jury’s still out on whether or not Snoop’s blunder will have any measurable positive effect on the town’s tourism, but just to be safe, let’s hope Bogata’s citizenry are boning up on proper glassblowing procedure for gigantic bongs.
