IKEA is possibly the biggest name in home furniture in the world right now. With over 400 locations worldwide, including locations in Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, the Swedish furniture giant has become not just a store where you can get another bookshelf for your bedroom, but an institution.
The first time you see one of their stores, it's hard not to be struck by how comedically large they are. Don't get me wrong, they actually do need that amount of space, not just for the showrooms, but also for their massive warehouses of unassembled furniture that you can peruse at your own peril. Still though, how many places can you shop that have their own cafeteria?!
Of course, the company isn't without a sense of humor about their ridiculousness either. Who could possibly forget some of their absolutely classic commercials, like the one about the sad lamp?
However, their latest marketing strategy in Sweden has definitely raised some eyebrows. In the latest ad released by the company, they tease that you can win a discount on a crib by bringing in the ad to a store. The catch? You have to pee on it first...
As it turns out, the company's first ad of 2018 has a strip on the bottom that's made from the same material as a pregnancy test, meaning it'll change color if it detects that the person urinating on it is pregnant. In short, they want to give the crib discount to expecting mothers!
Ikea wants you to pee on this ad and if you're pregnant, it'll give you a discount on a crib https://t.co/MjuUiQSkZz pic.twitter.com/wAMXt8IdkJ
— Adweek (@Adweek) January 9, 2018
Now, this has understandably raised a number of questions among people online. For starters, one would assume that the deal can only be claimed in-store, so does that mean that people are expected to bring their pee-soaked ad to the store and hand it to customer service people? Because I'm pretty sure neither the customers nor the employees want that.
Some people are also calling the ad discriminatory against non-pregnant women and same-sex male couples, which would make this far from the first time that the company has faced controversy over their ads. Mostly, this just seems unnecessary and kinda gross.
What do you think about this... unique kind of advertising?
