So a while back, Mother did an ad for IKEA using cats.
This is that ad.
I love it.
Actually I more than love it, I adore it.
I can honestly say it’s one of my favourite ever TV ads … which means that on top of it being firmly cemented in my heart and mind, it also makes me hugely jealous and envious because I wish I had done it or – at the very least – identified it as a possible idea.
What makes it worse is [1] I have a moggy and [2] I have worked on IKEA … so all the factors were there if only I’d been clever enough … but that aside, I love it because I not only totally relate to it, but it makes me feel even more positively towards IKEA and Mother than I did previously, and I loved them both a lot. A hell of a lot.
I think IKEA and Mother often get a bad rap.
It’s all too easy to label one the home for shitty furniture and the other the place for frivolous advertising entertainment, but the truth is, neither are true.
Apart from the fact IKEA basically gives everyone the chance to live in a fairly nice looking home, regardless of their income [except in China, where proportionatly, it’s fucking expensive] it gives people choices, options and possibilities. You can take the piss out of their ubiquity or their in-store experience, but they have almost single-handidly made the average house a much nicer – not to mention, a better looking – home … and what the cat ad does, is highlight that whatever your tastes, space or budget, IKEA has something that allows you to turn your house, specifically into your home.
And that’s the thing, a home isn’t just about space or practicality … it’s much more than that … it’s a place where you feel, errrrm ‘true to you’ … and whilst Crispin did that wonderful ad that took the piss out of sentimentality, this ad seems to recognise that sometimes, it’s exactly that emotion that helps make you feel truly settled and while we all know they ultimately want you to buy a shitload of stuff from them, they’ve ensured they’re not saying ‘new’ is a loss of connection, just an extension of it.
Given the amount of times I’ve moved countries, I relate to this a lot.
While we always take our furniture with us, moving means you end up doing a bit of ‘spring cleaning’ [read: disposing] along the way and so we often find ourselves having to buy some new stuff for the house and more often than not, we do it in IKEA.
Infact it’s now got to the stage where I associate IKEA with moving/moved countries but here’s the thing, it’s only becomes ‘part of the house’ when Rosie – our pampered puss [that’s her above] – takes ‘ownership’ of it.
Doesn’t matter if it’s a sofa she sleeps on or a lamp she rubs her face against, when she acts like the new item is “part of the furniture”, that’s when I subconsciously feel I’m truly “in my own home”.
Maybe the ad works best for cat owners … I have heard it wasn’t as successful as IKEA hoped/wanted … but what I can say as an audience of one, is that from a ‘get people to buy perspective’, it not only worked, but it made me feel something towards the brand that went way beyond the place where you go to buy relatively cheap and innovative/practical furniture, but made me feel it was a place that let me always feel I was ‘home’.
Then there’s Mother.
I have a massive soft spot for them … always have, always will … but what I love about this ad is that it shows the World that they’re more than just a one-style agency, they’re a place that really knows people and how to connect with them.
Just like the AA work demonstrated HHCL’s brilliant way of looking at everything [including the beautiful touch of ensuring their emergency phoneline ended in the digits 999] and Chrysler’s superbowl spot showed W+K are about being clever, not cool … this IKEA spot forces people – mainly industry people – to re–evaluate what they think Mother are both about, and capable of … and given our hypocrisy of talking open-mindedness but actually embracing ‘pigeon holing’, that’s quite the achievement as well as the slap in the face.