We have a love-hate relationship with IKEA. We love that they have everything to dress the perfect home at low prices but it pains us to have to build the furniture ourselves, because, let’s face it, some of us are just too lazy. But one thing’s for sure, IKEA has wow-ed us with extremely innovative ads – from cooking up a mini-kitchen to having to use your phone to heat up the hotpot for CNY reunion dinner – they surely know the best way to get people talking about the brand.
Well, the Swedish furniture shop has done it again! Together with Swedish design agency Åkestam Holst, IKEA’s latest ad encourages pregnant women to pee on it for a discount on a baby crib. Yes, you read it correctly. The ad, created by Mercene Labs, doubles up as a pregnancy test. Just watch:
We don’t really know how to feel about this. It’s an out-of-this-world idea, so kudos to the person who brought this interactive concept to the table. The ad interacts with the customer and, frankly, it really is quite cool. Furthermore, it definitely raises awareness for IKEA’s family membership and its discounts (which was their objective), so who’s to say that it is a bad ad?
However, we don’t think people would pipette their urine onto the ad, like the scientists did. Also, you probably have to bring the used ad to IKEA and show the positive results to staff to enjoy the discounted price. That doesn’t sound very hygienic. If we were staff, we wouldn’t want to be handling pee-stained paper, either.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a pee-based advertisement has been employed. In 2001, Animal Planet placed urine-scented ads below lampposts to attract dogs to pee there. Owners would then see a larger ad promoting Animal Planet’s dog awards show, placed at their eye level.
So far, there hasn’t been any news on whether this ad would be included in the local IKEA catalogues and let’s hope it stays that way.
Header Image: AdWeek
