About

"I Hate Iceland" is a quotable one-liner by Anton McEneny, a 23 year-old Scottish traveler who barged into live broadcast during a Sky News report on massive flight cancellations at Edinburgh Airport on April 14, 2010. Despite being abrupt, Anton's commentary was perhaps seen as timely and gained both media attention and online buzz in the following days.

Background

On April 14, 2010, Eyjafjallajökull, a volcanic glacier located in the southwest of Iceland, saw its biggest eruption since the initial report of seismic activities in December 2009. Because it erupted deep beneath the frozen layers of glaciers, the flowing lava was rapidly cooled down and vaporized into plume of small glass particles, which may cause fatal engine malfunctions for aircrafts flying in proximity.

Following the initial warning by London's Volcanic Ash Advisory Center, much of European aviation authorities began suspending the majority of commercial flights across Britain and much of Western Europe until the ash plume cleared out of the airspace (suspension in place as of April 19, 2010 / click here for the map of affected area).

Origin

The Sky News correspondent was reporting live via satelite from Scotland's Edinburgh Airport, interviewing a couple of passengers when suddenly, in the true fashion of a fearless video-bomber, a young lad barged into the interview and yelled "I HATE ICELAND" before carrying on with his friend:

TV Reporter: (inaudible) …to the airport?
Interviewee: Sorry?
TV Reporter: You only found out, when you got to the airport? You didn't know in your hotel or--
Interviewee: No, no. I--
Random Dude: I HATE ICELAND-- I hate Iceland-- (with slightly less confidence)

Spread

Since being uploaded by YouTuber mrmarky72 on April 15th, the Sky News clip has been viewed nearly one million times in three days and dozens of duplicates and even a few remixes have been posted by others. As of April 19, 2010, "I Hate Iceland" video is currently ranked as the Most Viewed Video of the Week in United Kingdom, as well as leading in weekly top fives of other countries affected by Iceland's ash plume fiasco. As of April 22nd, the video has been viewed over 1 million times.

Iceland Volcano Man – I Hate Iceland (Dance Remix)

I Hate Iceland (Sparta Remix):

I Hate Iceland (Loop Remix):

I created Iceland (I hate iceland remix):

I Hate Iceland (MT Eden Sierra Leonne Dubstep):

Play Him Off, iPad Cat (I Hate Iceland Remix)

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Interview with Anton

Following the YouTube clip's viral rise in a day, Scotland's Real Radio contacted Anton for a short interview on the phone, which went on air and uploaded on YouTube:

According to the local media, the Glasgow resident hit the bar after finding out his flight to the Czech Republic was cancelled due to the volcanic ash from Iceland.

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