Merry Christmas and Good Tub’Year. Source: http://spademanns.wikia.com/wiki/Fil:J-dag_wallpaper_1024x768.jpg
Well, not the real snow. We’re still hanging in around 12°C/54°F most days and haven’t seen snow yet.
This refers to something else that’s happening today, the first Friday in November at exactly 8:59 pm. It’s J-Day (J-dag)! The day when all the breweries in Denmark release their special Christmas brew, or juleøl. The Danes also refer to this time as snowstorm (snestorm) or snowfall (snefald) – the commercials for today all say, “The snow falls on Friday!” (Sneen falder fredag!) – hence the title of my post. It officially kicks off the Christmas season in Denmark.
Tuborg started the whole trend in the 80’s with a blue and white themed animated advertisement. It was so popular, that the next year they made a beer to go along with it, called Julebrug. By now many other breweries have joined in the fun with their own juleøl. {Just a fun fact: Julebrug is only on the market for 10 weeks, but it’s the 4th best selling beer in Denmark!}
J-dag is apparently a really big deal in Denmark,* and the pubs and bars will be full tonight with people celebrating. Apparently, they even dress up in blue and white and decorate with fake snow aka foam. And Carlsberg employees will go around to different bars singing a traditional Tuborg Christmas Brew song and giving away a free beer.
A J-dag party in Copenhagen in 2008. Source: http://www.carlsberggroup.com/brands/Pages/Tuborgjulebryg.aspx#.UnNlCJQ6VOF
Tuborg getting ready to deliver the Julebrug and jule-fun! Source: http://www.carlsberggroup.com/brands/Pages/Tuborgjulebryg.aspx#.UnNlCJQ6VOF
In fact, Tuborg’s Julebrug has its own Facebook page with 78,000+ likes!
Unfortunately, Brian and I will be in Sweden tonight and will miss out on all the fun. We planned this trip before we had ever heard about J-dag or Julebrug, so we’ll have to catch the festivities next year.
I’ll leave you with a video of the original animated commercial that started all the fuss. The text at the end reads “Merry Christmas and a Happy Tub’year” (like, as a play on Tuborg because Tub’år sounds almost the same).
* Brian asked some of his Danish coworkers about J-dag, and they just kind of rolled their eyes, saying it’s more an excuse for students to get rip-roaring drunk on free beer than anything. I mean, it’s obviously a commercial “holiday,” but the numbers don’t lie. The fact that Julebrug is the 4th selling beer in Denmark despite its limited availability and that J-dag is the best day for Tuborg says to me that the Danes do like their Julebrug.
Our House in Aarhus 
