apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

eh, what?

I hate advertising.

Sorry, but that commercial is GOR.GEOUS. Stops me in my tracks EVERY time.

Michael, that may be advertising, but what about the sentiment expressed is so off-putting to you? Do you disagree with it?

As ad copy goes, this is fairly straightforward, and daresay, inarguable...

This reminds me of the cotton commercials - the "Fabric of Our Lives."

...so you're going to fill that home with the same cheap boring furniture that all your friends have?

God, cynics and misery EVERYWHERE here today. Yuck.

i think it's smart. and at least their ads are relevant to what is being sold... can't say that for most ads (have you SEEN ads for jeans or deoderant these days??)

i think this particular ad is also very attractive - showing one can make something as cookie cutter as ikea into a unique individual home. what's so wrong with that?

the previous ikea ads even showed various definitions of "family" (mom/dad, dad/dad, mom/mom). not bad for a ginormous global cheap boring furniture store using their presence for good and not evil ;)

Glad most of you weren't in the focus groups, or else this simply stunning and very moving commercial would never have been made.

The commercial is lovely, regardless of the product being sold.

I tried to find the ad on youtube, but no luck. Please let me know if you find it there. Thanks.

I think its a bit cheesy personally, in Spain we have a much cooler one called "Welcome to the Independent Republic of Your Home"

Interesting that this turns up here today. I have yet to see the ad but with the above comments I am looking forward to it. I woke up in the middle of the night because I remembered that 9-11 falls on a Tuesday again this year. NYC is my home. I guess my post 9-11 anxiety has not left me after all.

Not that this is a 9-11 forum but I know what you mean, Mason. I had a nightmare recently about 9-11 that made me realize I'm still very strongly affected by it. Much more so than I knew.

i think this particular ad is also very attractive - showing one can make something as cookie cutter as ikea into a unique individual home. what's so wrong with that?

Okay, but they only show the outsides of the homes. If they showed the interiors with Ikea furniture being used in unique ways, it would be more appropriate.

I just think if you're really into making a home your own, you'd want to collect furniture that is in some way meaningful to you and reflects your own style.

I do agree that it's an attractive ad, though cheesy.

I think the voice is cheesy and kitsch - what accent is that?

The video is beautiful (there is a link on the Ikea page, no need to travel over to YouTube). Not quite sure if it captures what goes on at Ikea, but then again I have not been in years. Regardless, the sentiment that home means many things is a nice one. As a city person, it can sometimes be a lost sentiment when always looking up at someone else's incredible interior from the streets below, it's a good reminder that we have the chance to make any place we inhabit a real home.

It's called projecting.. to get you to impose your own interiors on these places they show before your mind does the "Ikea is cookie cutter crap* so I won't pay attention" shut-down.

*Which I do not believe, btw.

And I personally can't find the cheesy in this commercial, or its copy, at all.

Alaskan Mermaid: It is on YouTube, search "ikea ad home is the most important place".

God, hearts of stone, all!!

(mattplantguy exempt from that!)

F.C.U.K. - HOME

The link to the ad is right next to the picture above.

P2, although it may seem criminal to you, some of us just don't agree with you--that doesn't mean we're heartless. I think that ad is all hollywood.

A home furnishings store that "believes" that home is important. How... original.

I couldn't see the ad, A page of question marks and letters comes up instead.. I love the picture though, black horses, stormy sky, like that great "through my window" a couple of weeks ago. Nothing more beautiful than a galloping horse. Windows glowing with light are always cozy and inviting looking to me. I agree with the sentiment, but on some level don't like equating that with "stuff," like promoting the idea that the right "stuff' will give you a rewarding life. Not that I don't like stuff as much or more than anyone. Haven't been to Ikea yet but plan to.

Lordy, I'm with you Ptoo, I think the ad is beautiful. On the topic of ads but off the Ikea topic, I LOVE the ad on tv for Dow Chemicals about the human element. Anyone know what I'm talking about? It's a gorgeous commercial.

Also, I love it when people are all up in arms about filling your home with generic cheap furniture that your friends all have. I'm very much for going out and creating your own personal style, but you could do that by using exclusively Ikea (or any other home store) products arranged in a way that suits your tastes/moods/needs.

Some people aren't interested in spending a lot of time putting together what their home should look like, so they go to a store, see a living room display that they really like, and order the whole shebang for their house. That makes them inferior because they didn't avoid buying "the same cheap boring furniture that all their friends have"? I personally really enjoy shopping for furniture and odds and ends for my home, it means a lot to me and I find it relaxing and rewarding, but I'm aware that not everyone does, or should.

I had the same problem as Kate-- lots of numbers and symbols- and then my browser froze and I had to restart my computer. I'm very intrigued though, esp with the very romantic image of a horse and trailer in the image. I already want to be there!

Ok. I just watched it on YouTube. It is seductive and reminds me for some reason (maybe it's the music?) of M. Night Shyamalan's American Express commercial.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Skw-rKYsXOY

You can be plopped down in any home in North America and you will know where in the world you are. It is culture. I see my living space as my temple. If my temple looks just like yours....great, we both have temples!

Gosh IKEA thank you so much for telling me something I've known for years. duh

Actually, I was quite impressed by the stuff they were selling at Ikea, last time I went.

Second, to the people who are complaining about cookie-cutter stuff... thankfully, we don't live in a society where in order to have furniture, you either had to build it yourself through blood, sweat, or tears, or were wealthy enough to go to a furniture-maker who would custom-make it for you. This is the alternative to "cookie-cutter."

Now, if the complaint is, you should be unique and buy furniture at DWR/Grange/B&B/Roche/etc because not as many other people will have it, whereas more people will have Ikea, that's just plain elitism. Everyone would also have DWR/Grange/B&B/Roche/etc if it were cheaper. But, DWR/Grange/B&B/Roche/etc is expensive and that's why fewer people have it, not because it's any less cookie-cutter. So, you're looking down on people who can't afford DWR/Grange/B&B/Roche/etc and must settle for Ikea?

Really, try, just try beating Ikea on price, anywhere. Eeesh!

In your quest to bash consumerism/evil capitalism/etc, you're coming off sounding like a bunch of Park Ave fuddy duddies. "No, Winston, we can't shop at Ikea; that's for the commoners. What do you think we are, the help?"

I always find when people put down Ikea, there's a certain amount of elitism involved. Maybe some of us don't have the gobs of money required to spend on items hand-crafted by local artisans to make them "significant" enough for the AT masses.

Maybe if one had all the disposable income in the world, Ikea would not be their shopping destination of choice. But for my limited income, I thank Ikea for making my apartment more closely resemble a home. I couldn't have done it otherwise.

ps- Lovely commercial.

Rock on, Gene, rock on. :)

...so you're going to fill that home with the same cheap boring furniture that all your friends have?

As opposed to filling that home with the same supremely expensive "iconic" furniture that all your friends have?

Wow, umm, no, that's not what I meant at all. I'm young and don't have much disposable income myself, but instead of giving in to the need to immediately fill my house with furniture that's not my style and will become junk in two years, I wait patiently for used pieces to become available. In fact, I've never bought a piece of new furniture. Sure, there was a point in my life where I had to make do with cushions on the floor, and I used a folding card table as my kitchen table for a year, but it wasn't so bad because I eventually got furniture that was much less expensive and nicer than Ikea. Each piece of furniture I own has a great story behind it, and that's something you usually can't get when you buy furniture from a store.

Some people don't want to put a lot of thought and effort into furnishing their homes, and I'm not knocking them. We all have different priorities after all, and Ikea is a good choice for some. But it does look generic and the stuff does tend to fall apart and/or show wear very quickly. I know this because I've lived with people who shop exclusively at Ikea. My roommate from a year ago had these crazy Ikea living room chairs that honestly looked like lawn furniture. The other day I saw one in Goodwill and it looked awful. Furniture that's made out of plastic and glued together just doesn't have the same lifespan as something that's made out of a sturdy wood and has good craftsmanship.

And where, pray tell, do you find *that* at Ikea prices?

Like I said, you get it used. As for the person accusing me of elitism, I have no idea who DWR, Grange, B&B, or Roche even are.

My god, I had no idea pointing out the irony would cause so much commotion. It doesn't hurt to have a sense of humor, people.

i understand what you're saying, engineergirl! i'm not knocking you at all, either. while our kitchen uses ikea cabinets, i only have one thing from ikea....my nightstand that cost $30!

everything else is (somewhat) quality stuff randomly obtained. but i do love ikea...and yaknow what? it's STILL out of my price range! balls! but i also love that relatively nice, simple, clean lined design is available to the masses...... i also love that it allows everyone and anyone to afford having, er, "good" taste :)

engineergirl: "But it does look generic and the stuff does tend to fall apart and/or show wear very quickly"

sf: ive had my helmer drawer unit for 6 years now with no wear and tear.

and ps, Pixie--

I took your "This reminds me of the cotton commercials - the "Fabric of Our Lives." comment to be a positive, so I wasn't really ragging on you.

I loved that campaign, too.

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P2, that's nice of you to say that. Actually, my comment on the "Fabric of our lives" wasn't meant to be positive - I wasn't clear! ;D

I agree with the posts about the ad being beautiful. It is. It's also pointless, isn't it? I like shopping at Ikea for what it is -- good stuff (mostly) at great prices, and sometimes with a stylish or utility twist -- and those are great attributes to attract people even in a difficult economic environment (or, as someone here noted, even if they don't necessarily consciously think about their homes, per se). So why produce some obviously expensive, broadly thematic ad that reaches to connect with abstractions of home...illustrated with galloping horses, flocks of birds, yadda yadda? The Ikea branding makes sense on a Powerpoint slide -- company = home...you can imagine the little boxes and connecting lines -- but the realization of it is vastly distant from being relevant or any more consciously obvious to consumers. I've written about it a bit on DIM BULB if you want to check it out: http://dimbulb.typepad.com.

I love the IKEA commercial the new one. All of these scenes must be in Europe. Can anyone tell me where these places are? I have been trying to find this out since this commercial aired. Thanks Genie (don't let my name fool you I live in Chicago, but obviously I know where I want to be---an apartment in Belgium)