During the mail round in the Storting last week, several politicians were given a package with Christmas greetings and a bacon sausage. Around 70 politicians received the gift from Kruse Larsen, which is a PR agency with, among others, the former Ap leaders Jan-Erik Larsen and Bjarne Håkon Hanssen. More unknown are their roles as owners of a cured meats business in Smøla, where the gift is from: – Pølse-Hanssen himself together with several wild sheep farmers in Smøla, Larsen tells about the ownership and refers to the former agriculture minister’s nickname. Former Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg together with Bjarne Håkon Hanssen, also called sausage Hanssen. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB 600 names on the sausage list – What do you have to do to end up on Kruse Larsen’s sausage list? – With us, we make it so that everyone who works for us can put up as many people as they want on a list of who they think should get a Christmas greeting, and this year there were over 600 names on the list. Everyone who is suggested gets hot dogs, says Larsen and continues: Jan-Erik Larsen has built up several PR companies in the last 13 years. Photo: Trond Vestre / news – There is a couple who have called and asked why they haven’t received one, and then they get a sausage right away. We give sausage to everyone who wants it. But there is no deep reasoning behind the sausage list. This is a sausage during slaughter time. – Not intended ironically at all Another sausage and politics catchphrase originates from the American poet John Godfrey Saxe, according to Quoteinvestigator. Like hot dogs, you’d rather not know how laws are made if you want to preserve respect for the outcome. But Larsen, who has insight into both processes, has no problem telling how the sausages are made. Wild saulam meat is mixed with venison, salt and spices. – These are sausages made from the most wonderful animal there is, namely the original Norwegian wild sheep. Extremely tasty, says Larsen. – Was it with a touch of irony that you just wanted to give sausages? – It is not ironic at all on our part, on the contrary. Sometimes a sausage is just a sausage, to quote Freud. We do this for two reasons: Because it’s nice to give a Christmas greeting to hard-working citizens, and because we promote local food, says Larsen. The sausages are to be returned But it turns out that the joy was short-lived for the politicians in the Storting. According to the administration at the Storting, the sausages must be sent back because the politicians are not allowed to receive food or drink. “When the administration became aware that the shipments contained food, they were stopped. We have asked the sender to avoid such inquiries with food and drink in the future.” writes the Storting in an email to news. – It’s a shame for those who don’t get sausage. We will now have to try to find out until next year. We have been sending hot dogs for many years, so it must be something new. If not, we wouldn’t bother administration with that sort of thing. They have more than enough to keep up with, if they are not going to send sausages in return, says Larsen.
ttn-69
PR agency gave sausages to politicians – now the sausages are being sent back – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
