apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I like IKEA, but not this.

However, the contest is enticing! I could use $1500 to spend at IKEA, especially since I plan to buy a home soon.

I haven't seen this yet, but it strikes me as amusing. I suppose IKEA paid for the space?

Welcome to the United States of Made in China...

I think that Colleen's interpretation of this being a suggestion for remaking the Oval Office is completely missing the point. I don't believe they're offering suggestions for the Obamas. I believe Ikea is extending their play on the message, "change begins at home." Yes, they've used an iconic room to show off some product, but the point is the one that Obama has been making -- change begins with you, the citizen; you, Mr. or Ms. consumer are responsible for taking the message from the oval office and bringing change home. Don't look to the whitehouse for inspiration, the whitehouse is looking to you[hello, President Kennedy]. Ergo, Ikea has put the average citizen's living room into the oval office. "Imagine yourself here; what would you do? how would you change things?"

This is very sophisticated and powerful consumer message because it taps into emotions about the economy, the war, our jobs, etc.

"change begins with you, the citizen; you, Mr. or Ms. consumer are responsible for taking the message from the oval office and bringing change home."

That's the thing that needs to change right now with our country: The US public have been "Consumers" for far too long - We all need to get back to being "Citizens".

How do you propose, that in a nation based upon capitalism, that we walk away from all consumerism? The right to earn a living? The right to reward ourselves for our own labors? The right to pay to promote our own endeavors (as IKEA is doing)? What, exactly, is the alternative? And why do you seem to think that Consumerism and Citizenship are mutually exclusive?

But above all, bepsf, are you EVER cheerful? This IKEA campaign is (as their advertising usually is) presented with tongue planted firmly in cheek. I suggest your tongue do something similar every now and then.

Hi Patrick, I agree. We can't walk away from capitalism.... and I love Kennedy's message reitterated ("don't ask what your country can do for you...."). I agree with bepsf that as passive (and somtimes greedy) consumers, we've let our country get out of our own hands. Let's take it back! And hey, if we look better along the way, I am *so* on board with that.

[by the way, I am so very appreciative of the design suggestions that you and bepsf in particular have given me over the past year as I work on my home. Just want to say thanks to both of you.]

I'm glad I live just across the river in Alexandria City. Can't wait til Inaug is over.

Patrick, you're making a big leap -- Bepsf didn't suggest that "we walk away from ALL consumerism," just that we stop conceptualizing ourselves as consumers above and beyond anything else, and start to see ourselves as citizens, first. Consumption is fine, design is great... but overconsumption is a huge problem in this country.

Marketing that coopts progressive energy and directs it toward shopping is not simply cute (even if it's very clever) -- it is a part of a dangerous cultural trend that seeks to exploit our desire for political change and redirect it to the non-threatening mantra "Stuff! More stuff! All we need is... stuff!"

Americans' overconsumption is at mammoth levels. We're drowning in credit card debt, not just mortgage debt. We even reached *negative* savings rates by 2005 (meaning that we actually spend more money than we take in), as compared to saving 10% of our paychecks in the 80s. This is a huge problem for the stability of our country. The "change" that we need to embrace is about saving, not spending.

While it's surely a cute idea, the remake looks awful and cheap - and not in the thrifty, hunting for nice antiques sort of way.

jplee, Right On!!

jplee said what I wanted to. Thanks!

jplee--

So do you suggest all outlets that create goods stop advertising? Guess what? This blog would shut down, just like all the shelter mags that are closing...

Of COURSE I understand the debt problem, and the issue of moving towards savings versus spending. I just never understood what people think will happen with some of our existing structures of commerce, advertising being one of them... no?

I personally think the issue is NOT consumerism, but GREED. Greed of the CEOs... greed embodied by a system of public companies where status quo is not acceptable when it comes to quarterly profits...

And, greed when it comes to those who expected to buy real estate only to flip it... a HUGE part of the leaking boat we are all sitting in...

I think the IKEA flag and the secret service agent are a nice touch. Also the pink (salmon?) drapes.

It may be an abomination, but it's all very funny too. Think of how many people coming to town are going to see this. It's so truly American.

Patrick, I think maybe you're equivocating capitalism with conusmerism. Consumerism is generally thought of as "the equation of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism

To your point, I'd add that consumerism is also a kind of public greed that can never be sated.

You just cannot express ambivalence about materialism or consumerism or SHAMELESS PRODUCT PUSHING on AT without being accused of attacking capitalism!

Come on!

Meanwhile that IKEA display is hilarious.

I think a lot of what amuses me about this is that it's so shamelessly over the top - it's not the slightest bit subtle that it's selling products. It's like they are trying to get a rise out of you and they did. And it's also well done.

Hahaha! Thank God it's not Walmart.

Henrietta the Terrible,

Capitalism is not the same thing as consumerism.

Capitalism is "Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are privately owned and controlled rather than publicly or state-owned and controlled."

Capitalism is not inherently good or bad.

Consumerism is not an economic system of any kind. It's a derogatory phrase coined to describe economically unhealthy consumer habits; the 'ism' comes from medical conditions, like "hyperthyroidism."

kimg924:

You did not get what I said, therefore you have no grounds to patronize me!

kim924--

Um, I think you meant "equating" not "equivocate":
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/equivocate

:)

Is it just me or has there been more than enough coverage of the Inauguration / the Obamas on Apartment Therapy (and I know this post isn't directly related but still irksome)? If you live in the city, the Inauguration is nothing but a nuisance - tons of roads shut down, the metro bound to be overcrowded, streets littered with slow moving tourists. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that Obama's in the White House and grateful for the overwhelming swell of interest in politics these days, but I get more than my share of it from actually living in the city. I personally turn to AT to catch a glimpse of the lives of others and to learn how insights from those lives might better my own, not to read day in and day out about how the Obamas might decorate the White House. We'll never probably see it anyway. I think the strength of this site is in its connection to real people and real homes, not those of celebrities. I'm looking forward to when the perceived Obama decorating honeymoon is over and we can return to the broken-in comfort of the style of "average" people.

one puppet troupe moves out of the theatre and another one moves in. Brought to you by (insert corporate monolith names here).

Since when does Ikea sell secret service men? I'd like one posted at my front door but I can't find it on their site....

This redo of the Oval Office is down right cheesey. Ikea needs to get a grip. The Oval Office as it is now is beautiful and in quiet good taste. What is wrong with keeping and enjoying a traditional and historic environment. When Jacqueline Kennedy worked with the New York Historical Preservation Society she helped the city establish Landmark Preservation Laws and thank God for her the horrendous destruction stopped. The destruction of Pennsylvania Station was the spark of that began the movement.

It is important for the smooth brains among us to understand that change in government policy is not a cosmetic job. Changing what is so uniquely American in defining what the original thinkers proposed as a working democracy does not start with pop culture yet with the populace demanding that the Constitution be restored to reflect the balance of power, something this Obama fellow has yet to claim or clear up.

Now, that said. Let's keep politics out of decoration. Some of us do not want to know how you voted we just want to know about your sense of style and design can we keep it there please.

This room is tacky, sad, pathetic, cheap and extremely shallow. If it is supposed to represent anything, it is poor judgment and taste.

Gimmick.

I don't really know what to make of it besides that. IKEA is a popular merchant, and the cure for every decorating dilemma. "Embrace Change" and buy the same stuff everyone else has. This is what the oval office would look like if the Obamas read AT.

atarichamp, you have to grow the IKEA secret service agents yourself--they come in little capsules like the foam dinosaurs you get at the museum and expand when you put them in water. They don't last long, but they do come with stylish accessories.

While I wasn't a huge fan of all the advertising previously mentioned, I do like this set up a lot. All this talk about "DOWN WITH CAPITALISM! SAVE, NOT SPEND!" is quite humorous when a company, whose prices are about as low as you can get, is advertising a way to save money on your furniture. I know for a fact the government spends a ton of money on furniture, fixtures and such for its offices, but if they switched to all IKEA furniture (which, contradictorily, would be a bad idea because of quality issues) then we could save millions of dollars. End Rant.
Anyway, it's in good fun and I'm all about someone other than me, dumping money into the Metro system.

If the government switched to purchasing all ikea products we would not save money. We would probably spend just as much because ikea products are not designed to last and we would just keep having to replace basic items like chairs that become gnarly after a few years of use. - speaking from experience.

Patrick, you ask:

>> jplee--
So do you suggest all outlets that create goods stop advertising? Guess what? This blog would shut down, just like all the shelter mags that are closing...
Again, with the big leaps. I raised a very specific argument about the cynical co-optation of progressive political energy away from actual political change (which required action) and toward buying the act of purchasing things. I never said, or implied in the least, that all advertising should be eliminated. I said that *this* particularly cynical attempt by this advertiser to try and divert our attention from social change to breaking out our credit cards is problematic.

The reason this kind of ad campaign is problematic is because it is part and parcel of a marketing-driven push to get Americans to see ourselves as a nation of consumers, not a nation of citizens. Where the only thing that will help us achieve "change" in our lives is the act of buying, spending, accumulating -- not any kind of civic engagement.

What I'm talking about is the impact of *this kind* of advertising on our culture. You can agree or disagree with the argument, but it's just silly to say that by critiquing Ikea's cynical if clever "embrace change" campaign I'm somehow saying that no companies should ever advertise any goods in any way. That's a huge logical leap and wouldn't hold up even in a junior high school debate.

I mean, if we can't see the difference between unobtrusive boxed ads for home goods on Apartment Therapy's website on one hand, and Ikea taking over whole DC metro stations to co-opt the energy of the Obama inauguration on the other -- then we have a critical perception problem. I know we don't teach media literacy in school, but we should really be able to decipher the difference, and the danger, there.

Not to mention, a home done all up in IKEA doesn't look as good as much as it just looks like too much IKEA.

jplee--

Points taken, but I don't agree that all my jumps were large ones.

In an age of folding magazines, people TiVOing past commercials and blocking banner ads, opting out of email campaigns, shredding direct mail, and subscribing to satellite radio with no advertising, I actually applaud the marketing minds at IKEA for this kind of advertising. Making people notice-- or finding outlets for them to do so-- ain't easy.

And for the record, I don't think you made a terribly clear case against that which you were objecting to, and I wanted to understand what you and people like KTG proposed as solutions. I see now you are objecting to content and tenor of the message more than anything else, and while I still disagree, point taken.

But, sorry, if YOU can't find the humor in their approach (or consider it "cynical" as you state, then yes, we do indeed have a critical perception problem.

"and people like KTG proposed as solutions."

What solutions have I proposed? You mean kimg924? Let's make up.

Oops, you're right, I meant bepsf. I get you two confused all the time.

PS: I do appreciate the time jplee and kim took to engage in the dialogue with me, especially kim's refresher course on the dictionary def of "consumerism." I always actually forget it has such specific and negative connotations, so that did help put the whole argument in a new light for me.

"Oops, you're right, I meant bepsf. I get you two confused all the time."

I will take that as a compliment.

I haven't seen this (which is strange considering I go through Union Station every day), but I have seen their plastering of ads at the Farragut North metro. My first response to this was "what a clever idea." Um, I think consumerism/greed are bad, but I don't see how a company trying to capitalize on the exposure they can get (and likely paying beaucoups bucks to wherever they are--metro, union station) is part of that. The advertising is annoying (like the stupid Chevron ads that were up for an age), but not quite the cause of all social ills or even the cause of consumerism.

Patrick, you asked for info/analysis that would help you better understand the points that I and others here have made. I'd suggest two excellent books:

Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing and the Erosion of Integrity
(In addition to a sharp analytical framework there's also a lot of humor in this book; it's a great read.)

Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel
(This places an emphasis on the representations of women in advertising, but that's not why I'm suggesting it -- the author also goes very deeply into the ways in which advertising alters perception in general, how and why advertising works, and what the impact of this is on our collective culture and sensibilities.)

If you only have time for one, though, read Unmarketable.

Quick, can anyone read any MORE into this? That person behind the desk is white - does that mean IKEA is advocating that only caucasians be president? That Secret Service guy is wearing sunglasses indoors - is IKEA advocating the hiring of a visually impaired security detail? There are price tags on all that furniture - does IKEA think we should leave the tags on our stuff after we buy it?

You know who isn't going to be impacted by this ad campaign? Most of the country. Why? There are no IKEAs anywhere near them.

It is ironic that if AT posted a blurb about any of these furniture pieces individually, there would be ZERO discussion about the evils of consumerism. People would complain about shoddy construction or remark that their (whatever) has held up surprisingly well. But there would be none of this hand-wringing. Interesting.

Advertising FAIL

I think people are really getting into this IKEA campaign. There is a blog up now, http://OperationObamaOffice.blogspot.com, that features different options people have created on the IKEA site. Pretty funny.

Just saw the Operation Obama Office site. Ha. I like the Presidential Lounge. I'd hang there, and so would Burt Bacharach.

http://OperationObamaOffice.blogspot.com

sorry, previous link didn't work

Lest we forget - an early maxim of Ikea's in the U.S. (I'm not sure if they used it in other countries, but I first found out about Ikea from a German friend) was:

"An idea without a price tag has no meaning."

Attributed to the founder/CEO of the company, I believe. I always thought this quote was over the top, and I've kept it for about 15 years displayed in my office or somewhere.

It's a business.

Tacky as hell. Bandwagoning to sell furniture. Blech!

"It's political, obviously." - Esceleto