And he posted the advert on eBay.
‘Some weather damages and minor eye problems. But overall good physical health and a fine specimen.’
That’s how Gustav Hallén, a photographer, art director and surf instructor from Stockholm, Sweden described himself in his eBay listing.
Yes, you read that correct. Not Tinder, not any other dating website – eBay. Where the tall, blond Swede (jokingly) offered his hand in marriage, for the slim price of $50,000 (€46,845, £40,233.5).
Oh, and you’d get a Swedish citizenship, too, which was what was on offer in the first place – but to get that, you’d have to marry him.
‘US just become the land of the free to leave. Why not move to a better place? Like Sweden,’ he said in his listing.
‘Open for all suggestions female, male and others. Likes long walks and Netflix and chill.’
Sadly, the listing was quickly taken down by eBay, because you’re not allowed to sell a human, even if it’s yourself.
Then again, it was a joke in the first place, as Hallén told a number of news outlets.
‘I didn’t really think it through,’ he told the Local’s Swedish edition.
‘It felt like a fun thing for my friends on Facebook: the feeling there was so gloomy I thought I could maybe take the problem on from another angle, with a lot of irony, and invite people to laugh a bit instead.’
He said he set the price at $50,000 as a form of reassurance, so nobody would be tempted to actually bid, but also wanted to put a price on how much he thinks Sweden’s ‘dream of freedom’ is worth.
As it stands, nobody tried to actually buy him in the short time the listing was live.
What if it had happened, though?
‘Then I would have to figure out how to tell my mom and dad,’ Hallén said when CNN asked him exactly that.
Although it started as a joke, Hallén said he loved how people shared it – mainly because it made people laugh, which he said was the best thing about it.
And of course, the surfer also found something good in the mess that was Donald Trump’s election and its aftermath.
‘It is nice to see that in so many places people are gathering and standing against what he stands for,’ Hallén told the Local.
‘That’s important. The world will always adapt, and life will go on hopefully.’
Sweden…. He is hot but he would have to pay me to live in Sweden. That country like it’s citezens smells like piss on a hot summer day.
Please…can I live in Sweden?
Add your comment at our Facebook page