Is Ikea really getting into the auto business?

In the same week as the launch of India's super-cheap car, the Tata Nano, aimed at putting one of the world's most populous countries behind the wheel, there are Internet mutterings about a new ecologically friendly car from none other than Ikea, purveyor of affordable design to the masses. Whether an elaborate April Fool's viral gag or a new mobility concept, the idea has captured the imagination of the Web. Ikea recently made a significant financial commitment to eco-friendly practices: Just last August, it announced the formation of Ikea GreenTech, a $67 million venture-capital fund to make investments in companies that will commercialize green technologies and products for its stores. The fact that Ikea's "Leko" vehicle teaser showed up on a French Web site also fits in with France's forward-looking ideas about urban public transport. Two years ago, outdoor advertising giant JCDecaux launched an ambitious bicycle-sharing program in Paris, which is changing the daily patterns for many of the capital's consumers: The French company estimates that after just one year, each of its 16,000 bicycles have eight to 10 users a day. As two of Detroit's leading automakers sweat the final week before a March 31 deadline for additional Washington financing, it's intriguing to think that future innovations in transportation may come from the most unlikely of places—whether from Mumbai entrepreneurs or Swedish flat-pack manufacturers.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on March 25, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Automotive, Ikea, New products, O'Leary

Ikea suggests you lose the human furniture

I hope we're not supposed to feel sorry for the guy in this German Ikea spot, because anyone dumb enough to buy human furniture deserves to be inconvenienced. Not really buying the dream premise, either. What prize did this ad win, exactly? I hope it was a copy of Super Mario 2 with a note inside saying "Try harder." By Jung von Matt.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on October 31, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Europe, Ikea, Kiefaber

Are Web series generally worth your time?

A lot of brands have Webisode envy these days. I can understand why: Web videos can be way longer than those 15- or 30-second spots. I mean, with TV, people barely get a taste of your logo, and it's over. Which is why companies like Johnson & Johnson and Holiday Inn Express have taken the plunge into longer-form storytelling. But do Webisodes really enhance a brand? Not always. Case in point: Ikea, a brand whose quirky persona has long appealed to twentysomethings in transition, is releasing its own mildly star-studded Web series titled "Easy to Assemble" on Sept. 22. Metacafe is previewing the show with some training videos. Since I am cursed with the ADHD endemic to the target market, I had a hard time making it through the first one, which has now been taken down (the basic premise was that Sweden is depressing). The current teaser shows Kevin Pollack greeting Ikea customers. I hope the Webisodes themselves are funnier—and not too long. It really is true: It's not the length of your spot that matters, it's how you use it.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Published on September 9, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Cullers, Ikea, Web video

Man living disassembled life inside an Ikea

I must say, it’s awfully nice of Ikea to let Mark Malkoff live in one of its stores for a week while his apartment gets fumigated. And by “live,” I mean eat, sleep and shower in the Ikea store in Paramus, N.J., all in front of a webcam (well, maybe not the shower part) for any and all interested parties to watch. I’m not sure why Malkoff’s first response to fumigation was an attempt to be a Big Wheel on the Internet, nor am I sure why he visited all 171 Manhattan Starbucks locations in a previous stunt. But this phenomenon where people think every minor phase or event in his or her life must be broadcast to all creation is certainly a curious one. And if this whole thing is essentially an ad for Ikea, it worked. I’ll definitely think twice before inveighing against their second-rate furniture in the future.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on January 8, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Ikea, Kiefaber

Ikea mixed up about whether size matters

“It’s not the size. It’s what you do with it,” Ikea proclaims in this ad card. Everyone’s favorite catalog dog might disagree.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on December 14, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Ikea

New Ikea commercial contains not a single human penis Photoshopped onto a dog

In advertising, you can only play the “dog with a grafted-on human penis” card once. Thus, Ikea Canada is moving in a different direction. In this newest TV spot, a daughter threatens to shave her head if her mom doesn’t shut up about the furniture. You can imagine what happens next, even without the visual. Zig in Toronto is the agency. Via ’boards.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Ikea

New Ikea catalog ups the horndog quotient

Everyone’s talking about this photo today, from a new Ikea catalog, and whether someone Photoshopped a human penis onto the dog. Ikea says it’s the dog’s leg. Which it may be—if the dog lost its original leg and then agreed to be fitted with an experimental prosthetic. Seems Ikea hasn’t learned from Abercrombie that racy catalogs don’t always help sales.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on August 31, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (32) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Ikea

More Ikea installations from Deutsch

More pics here of Deutsch’s current inside-out work for Ikea. (Click thumbnails below to enlarge.) The subway mittens are a nice touch. We could use more of those.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on May 22, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (7)
Filed under Ikea

Ikea brings the living room outside

We hear this guerrilla campaign for Ikea is the work of Deutsch. As with the folks at Curbed, to whom we are indebted for this post, we're not sure how the couches and curtains don't get stolen off the streets and bus stops where they are appearing, but it'll be fun as long as it lasts.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on May 19, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (7)
Filed under Ikea

Run for cover! It’s an Ikea opening

ABC News has suddenly caught on to the fact that Ikea store openings are wild and crazy, PR-generating events. They tracked down an 18-year-old college student who flew from Atlanta to Boston for an opening there. “I met a lot of people out there that I’ll probably stay friends with,” he says. “Now I’ve got a lifelong story of being able to say I camped out for two weeks at Ikea.” Next up: an exclusive on how people go nuts for Krispy Kremes.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 22, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Ikea

Extreme endurance by Ikea lovers

Do you like Ikea? I mean, really like Ikea? They sure do in Massachusetts, where 2,000 people stood in line for Wednesday's grand opening of the Stoughton, Mass., store. The Swedish chain was awarding gift certificates ranging from $500-5,000 to the first five customers, who stood in line for as many as 12 days. First in line and the top winner, Mike Rice, flew from Georgia to take part in the contest, which turned intense. Third-in-line Jeffrey Beaudette, who stood in line for seven days, told the Boston Herald: “If you look at the five of us now, no one’s really talking to each other. You’ve got five people who come from completely different walks of life. After a while, people just got irritated.” That's a lot to go through, we think, even for Ikea's cheap-yet-functionally satisfying furniture.

—Posted by Mae Anderson

Published on November 10, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Anderson, Ikea