The Norwegian Butter Crisis and the Ark of Taste: Citation Needed 8x02 

𝐵𝑅𝒜𝒩𝒟𝒴

Panic at the Tesco

Will always love that Mystery Biscuits range from "Buttery hand of capitalism" to "literally the entire answer"

I like how the closed captions at 5:05 transcribe Gary's accent as "Nøt bütter."

I survived the Norwegian butter crisis! We were only able to bake 3 different chrismas cookies that year instead of the traditional 7 :(

It'd be funny if they smuggled the butter in packs of "I can't believe it's not Butter"

As one coming from NORWAY here. It was a total disaster. So many Christmas cookies that were under threat of not being made. HOW can you celebrate Christmas with just Christmas soda !!!!! Families threatened to go from Christmas party. Divorces lay heavily in the air. Children stopped believing in Santa Claus.

Given that this channel (unlike so many others) actually has legible subtitles, I'd say there are probably a fair number of readers. I'm one of them.

I've never heard anyone call it smør-panik, we all call it smør-krise. Source: Norwegian

13:34 Someone please cut the clip and after "There is only one way to find out" cut to Tom choking on a vape.

The problem was as you said caused by a poor milk harvest, but also by poor central planning of agricultural production (agriculture in Norway is really far from free market capitalism) including continuing to export butter even though there was a shortage growing. But it was worsened by a surprising high consumption of butter caused by the "low carb" fad at the time. But the main reason people were genuinely worried and willing to pay for expensive and even smuggled butter was that quite a few of the traditional Norwegian Christmas kakes/pastries require butter not only for the flavor but to "work" properly chemically. We had plenty of margarine but it would not work as a substitute when baking. But really the "panic" or "crisis" were mostly the media hyping up the story, mostly humorously and to make the issue more embarrassing for the politicians and bureaucracy that should have been able to see the problem a lot earlier. The "crisis" was more or less resolved by the tariffs being lowered by 80% allowing more import.

8:28 Another reader here. As someone who has minor hearing issues, it is so refreshing to have clear and accurate captioning. It's weird, I actually hear better with the subtitles....

Norway is a country that subsists solely of butter and salmon so I understand their concern.

Yes, I remember that time. Here in Sweden we had a butter-shortage too, and for weeks on end all the headlines were "SWEDES ARE OUTRAGEOUS TO FIND DANISH BUTTER IN STORES, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH OUR COWS?"" But in all fairness, Sweden had a "O'boy-crisis" just recently. It's like Nesquik powder, you mix it with milk. The factory had a shutdown and was waiting for repairs and new parts, production was completely haltered. It was in the headlines, on tv news, mum's where angry and wrote to the company demanding they fix it because their kids NEEDED their chocolaty drink. Rumors where spread online where you could find bags in stores still, and people on Facebook sold bags for 10 times more the original price, even opened ones. And as with the norweigans, swedes could not find themselves buying other brands, like Lidl or some dark organic powder. It went so far there was even a psa on a morning news show on how you could mix your own O'boy-powder.

Ah yes. The year of the butter crisis. That was the year I learned how to make my own butter from cream. Out of SHEER NECESSITY. How on earth would we have celebrated Christmas without the butter cookies. How would we have basted the pork ribs? No it would have been unthinkable.

Back in the 60's the state of Wisconsin (known for its dairy cows and cheese) banned yellow margarine. The law was only repealed after a state senator did a blind taste test and ended up picking the margarine. I was reminded of this because of the butter smuggling, because margarine smuggling was an actual thing that happened here.

SOOBTITLAYS, MATT. WE'RE READING SOOBTITLAYS.

When my dad was young in the 1940s southern Finnish countryside, "slice up some butter like cheese and put it on bread" definitely was the staple food, in addition to potatoes. According to him, their family of five went through 30 kg of butter per month. When I was a kid in the 1980s, my grandmother used to give me some rye bread "med mycke' smör på", meaning a thick slice of bread with a thick slab of butter on top, and I loved it. (My grandparents were Swedish-speaking Finns, which explains the Swedish phrase.)

reminds me of the new zealand marmite crisis, which I just learned was called "Marmaggedon"

"What are you in jail for?" "Murder." "And you?" "Butter smuggling."

Tom and Matt's next project after Park Bench: Will It Vape?

"Tis but a flavouring." Best line of today!

Hey Tom. I really appreciate your trying to, and largely succeeding in, pronouncing the Ø (Ö), and not treat it like a common O like so many of your fellow Anglophones.

Tom does an amazing job herding cats (i.e., keeping the show moving along). Great episode, never butter. Cheers.

Also, did anybody else notice how wiggly Chris's Beard is? It is mildly distracting whilst also being oddly satisfying,

“Was it a crisis involving butter?” “In Norway?” That killed me

I laughed out loud at 8:30 when Gary called us "readers" because I always watch Technical Difficulties with subtitles! I don't want to miss any of the humour through your accents! Hahahaha.

Yeah, Iowa got mentioned in something! Did you know that someone vandalized the butter cow one year? Well, not the cow directly, but they spray painted the glass case it was in. Was big news because trust me, that was the most interesting thing to happen that week.

When Tom asked the question "what are we famous for historically" I almost instantly snapped back at my computer with "imperialism"

The wheel spins and lands on Norway

I should be studying for English now, but I guess this'll pass for it too

There's a jump cut at 5:30 just before Chris says 'television' and I don't think anyone else has noticed.

8:34 as a matter of fact, I don't really understand your accents most of the time so I have to watch with subtitles on. So no, Gary's not necessarilly wrong when talking to readers

I want more Citation Needed, to be honest, it’s been one of my favorite shows since I found you years and years ago. That said, do what makes you happy, do what is emotionally fulfilling for you. The fun of these shows is laughing along with you, so I care most that you have fun too.

This is so much worse than Cuban Missile!

My dad worked in Norway and would commute there every week. During the butter crisis, my dad would smuggle in butter in for his Norwegian work mates as they needed it for their Christmas biscuits. Because they had to import from Denmark it was extremely expensive. X

During a section of this video, you-all kept repeating the phrase "famous potatoes". That cracked me up, because the slogan on Idaho, USA license plates was "famous potatoes".

It's funny, as a native Ohioan, I answered "cow" immediately when Tom asked what someone would carve out of butter and thought nothing of it. It's just the obvious answer (after 120 years of being a state fair tradition).

This episode feels a lot better than the last. Everyone seems to be enjoying it a lot more and more used to the flow again. Such a good series...

Gary calling us readers when I'm reading the subtitled. Bless you, old sod.

5:23 “aAAAAY!! *no.* “ Damn that got me :D

Coming back to this when butter can costs over 7 quid a pack and rising 👀

Vaping butter would lead to lipoid pneumonia.

I know the episodes have already been filmed but I hope one of them is a “Tom’s-not-in-charge-special”. I listened to that Reverse Trivia episode and thought it would be good as a citation needed episode.

I would pay good money for William Shakespeare: Food Analyst

You've always been Tom Scott, ya know, someday, you could just continue to be Tom Scott after the cameras stop rolling, and no one would think worse of you for it.

Am I having a fever dream? This seems _very_ fast paced

Butter fingers of capitalism.

"What's in the van?" "Not booter?!"

8:22 Archivist gear engaged!

I kept searching "Citation Needed 8x02" on the search bar just so that I could watch it as soon as it got uploaded

I am reminded of Marmageddon around the same time, when the only Marmite factory was put out of action by the Christchurch earthquakes!

Tried solving the riddle at the end myself, but once I came up with the phrase "Kermit's hermit permit" I couldn't do it because I was laughing too much...

I was born in Des Moines Iowa, and I've been to several Iowa State Fairs. The butter sculptures are actually a competition, so there's a whole tent filled with butter sculptures every year, at the center of which is the butter cow. I've seen the Harry Potter, barns, all sorts of stuff.

My kitchen may now be called the Ark of Taste.

It was great watching an episode about something I was a part of! There was a surge in norweigan speakers in my local grocery store in Sweden during this time

"This time, we're taking on smør-panik" Panikk, not panik.

"We're not doing it in Kronor, I don't have a calculator" Hmm... You sure about that, Tom?

I'm from Iowa, and I can attest to the fact that they carved EVERYTHING out of butter. There would be an entire refrigerated barn dedicated to them every year.

"Margarine is colored yellow to look like butter." Butter is dyed yellow. Butter is white.

Nøt bütter

Ayyyyyyyy, shoutout to Nashville! Not exactly the type of international acclaim we’re used to, but we’ll take what we can get

See, that is how to begin a month in a really good way :3

Butter crisis? If Toast doesn't win I will rage-quite life!

"Plato's world of the buttery cave!" XDXDXD

The Technical Difficulties: The Butter Special

You know you're from the Midwest when you're screaming at a video of four Englishmen trying to guess what could possibly be sculpted out of butter for a state fair...

Vaper here chiming in on Diacetyl, it was a big to-do over nothing really, in the 90s some workers in a popcorn factory inhaling dust had popcorn lung, and the diacetyl was blamed. Cigarettes have much more diacetyl in them than even the butteriest e-liquids, and no instances of popcorn lung have been reported from either smoking or vaping. I mix my own liquids and use flavourings with diacetyl and I'm fine, I hope.

"I Can't Believe It's Not Butter." I can. It's not even similar. :-(

I’ve been watching Tom Scott for a while now and only recently discovered this series and I’m absolutely astounded that this hasn’t been picked up by channel 4. This is on par and sometimes even passing the level of production and comedy that’s on 9 out of 10 cats or QI. I mean the staff and production template is there so why wouldn’t they pick this up? I’m watching from NI and literally slapping my knee at the jokes!

And here we are in Oklahoma, USA deep-frying butter packs, and eating the butter whole on a stick. Like a corndog.

As an Iowan, I knew The Butter Cow immediately, and loved hearing the disbelief of the concept

"not bootar" best line.

Ah, the butter crisis. A dark and troubled time in my country's history.

I just realized that Tom complained about the use of Krone, saying "I don't have a calculator here" WHILE INFRONT OF A LAPTOP WITH INTERNET ACCESS

Just finished a massive essay - last minute submission, of course - and needed to de-stress. Thanks, lads!

Did...did Tom say “Ark of Truth” instead of “Ark of Taste” when talking about the UK?

Forgot to mention that the butter crisis was in December. The butter was needed for baking Christmas cookies(we bake 7 kinds). You can't use margarine for cookies, would taste bad and no crispy texture.

Seeing this video just made my day. Thanks

im adding, 'the butter fingers of capatilism' as a patch to my battle jacket

Please god someone make an edit of 13:40 or so. SMASH CUT to tom vaping

Norwegians clearly needed to be educated about the various advantages of condiments on toast!

After much thought, I've declared this as my favourite Citation Needed episode.

This reminded me of the danish general strike in 1998, where people hoarded, among other things, bakers yeast, even people who couldn't bake hauled home several packs of yeast (50g each).

NORGE!!! love to norway from sweden :3

This video going to get popular again after a pack of Lurpak costing about 7 pounds

Eyyyy, fave serial back in the tube!

Thanks guys, really. I needed that after the day I had :)

🎵 mystery butterrrrrr 🎵 (oh no)

3:40 There's a GIF in there.

The part where they were talking about potatoes is possibly my favorite part of any of their skits, ever.

There is not a single comedy show on the television that makes me laugh out loud. You guys do. Thank you.

The “and some cheese” at 9:12 is one of my favourite Tech Diff moments

Panic on the streets of Oslo, panic on the streets of Kristiansand

8:35 "they might be blind and reading this in a book" (tech dif reverse trivia podcast, a very niche but how well fitting quote)

Have to admit, "Nøt bütter." got me good.

The look on Gary’s face said it all “god I am a horrible person for cyphering this”

7:27 any specific potatoes? King Edward? Maris Piper Tom: your just naming potatoes- Guys: thats what you told us to do! 😂😂😂 i am diseased

I hope this never ends, but I guess one day it will. The combination of these 4 guys and their type of humour and knowledge made the best possible show.

These captions are amazing