[The popular and widely-covered IKEA campaign described in this story from Decider is another example of our desire to feel connected to the characters of the mediated world, even when we only experience them through parasocial interaction and relationships. See the IKEA website for more information and an Adweek story for an interview with the advertising agency’s chief creative officer Eduardo Marques. –Matthew]
IKEA Wants To Help You Recreate The ‘Stranger Things,’ ‘Simpsons’ & ‘Friends’ Sets In Your Own Home
By Michael Haskoor
June 2, 2019
If you’re a die hard fan of a TV show, how far would you go to live a day in the life of some of your favorite characters? Well, IKEA wants to help you recreate sets from popular shows such as The Simpsons, Stranger Things and Friends, right in your own living room.
The Swedish furniture chain has cleverly combined items from its collection as part of its “Real life series” ad campaign, where some of TV’s most iconic living rooms can be duplicated by viewers around the globe.
Shoppers can now choose from replicas of furniture and decor from Monica and Rachel’s apartment in Friends, as well as The Simpsons’ infamous living room and the Byers’ home in Stranger Things.
According to Ad Week, the United Arab Emirates-based campaign will be on display at some stores in the Middle East and features in some editions of its catalog. The store’s website has implemented an online checklist to aid customers in tracking which items they’ve purchased towards the full set. Aside from a few minor discrepancies in the lamps and pillows, we’d have to say that IKEA is pretty spot-on with their replicas.
The retailer has gone as far as incorporating a crooked picture as well as a brightly-colored phone and side table in The Simpsons set. Not only that, but the Stranger Things set comes complete with faux Christmas lights and Will Byers’ colored pencils.
“The IKEA team worked closely with the creatives for months. They went through hundreds of items to find the perfect pieces that would bring those iconic rooms,” managing director for IKEA in the UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Oman Vinod Jayan told Ad Week. “It was a great collaborative effort that led up to a stunning result.
It appears there has been no formal collaboration with the TV shows and their parent companies, as the descriptions avoid using the show names by labeling The Simpsons room for “families,” the Friends room for “mates,” and the Stranger Things room for “everyone.”
You can check out the full campaign here.