Olympics ‘Muffin Man’ from Norway invited to Invercargill in comical TikTok

Invercargill City Council jumped on a massive TikTok trend relating to an Olympian dubbed the "Muffin Man". Photo / TikTok

Most competitors at the Paris Olympics are best known for their athletic ability, whether it’s gymnastics, shotput or rowing.

Norwegian distance swimmer Henrik Christiansen, however, is best known for his obsession with chocolate muffins.

Dubbed the “Muffin Man”, Christiansen has arguably become the most famous Olympian on social media, not for his skills in the pool but for his love of the chocolate muffins served at the Olympic Village.

It began on July 25, when Christiansen filmed a review of the meals served at the Olympic Village. During the clip, he gave the muffins an “Insane 11/10″ rating.

The video gained 3.5 million views (millions more than the athlete’s previous videos) and Christiansen, sensing an interest, proceeded to share several comical videos about his love of the muffins.

@henrikchristians1

We have chocolate muffin before GTA 6 #fyp #olympics #paris2024 #olympictiktok #olympicvillage #muffins #gta #gta6

♬ GTA San Andreas Theme (Remake) - Ben Morfitt (SquidPhysics)

The swimmer’s muffin-related TikToks have accrued almost 100 million views on TikTok, not to mention the thousands of spin-off videos created by people about the Muffin Man.

Users on the platform claim the Muffin Man has taken over TikTok, with some claiming they’ve been served dozens of muffin-related videos in a row.

It seems the trend has become so massive that it’s not only reached Aotearoa but the offices of Invercargill City Council.

The organisation shared a TikTok featuring both the Muffin Man and his beloved baked good in a comical video encouraging him to visit the city.

“We asked our Gen Z team member to promote our city ... Here’s what she did” read a caption overlaying a collage of pictures of the Eiffel Tower, Christiansen and a chocolate muffin.

Set to the song This Town by 1 Direction star Nial Horan, the crudely animated video, which uses cut-out still images, shows Christiansen boarding a plane with a suitcase and the person-sized muffin, flying across an illustrated map and landing in Invercargill.

Here, the duo are shown cycling through autumn leaves, swimming at the beach and getting engaged, with Snoop Dog officiating the ceremony.

“Find your happily ever after in Invercargill,” reads the final frame.

@invercargillcitycouncil

#CapCut #muffins #olympics @Henrik Christiansen

♬ this town - nauuu ☽

As bizarre as it was, it’s been viewed more than one million times, and garnered 626 comments, with many saying they were now eager to visit the city, and tagging Christiansen so he would see it. Several said the council should give the Gen Z employee a raise for her work.

Invercargill City Council’s communications and marketing manager, Lisa Knight, said the video was a fun way to use the momentum of a trend to hero the city.

“This was simply a fun trend for us to jump on and we love to see the power of TikTok getting some attention for Invercargill from the Olympian muffin man himself,” she said.

“While Invercargill may not be known for its muffins, if Henrik makes his way down south, the cheese rolls are on us,” Knight added.

Great South’s Tourism marketing manager, Anke Ruwette, agreed the city’s cheese rolls were a must and said they loved seeing these kinds of videos being shared.

“The video is all good light-hearted fun that hopefully improves people’s perception of Invercargill and Southland,” she said, adding that it was sure to “get a few laughs” and also pique curiosity about the region.