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Contact: Whitney Tremaine
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whitney@jerichopr.com
Skewed Reality and Humorously Frank Discussions
are the Central Theme of the New IKEA Unböring Ads

Plymouth Meeting, PA, November 12, 2002 — IKEA, the leading home furnishings retailer, announced today its second series of TV ads from its recently unveiled year-long “Unböring” marketing campaign. The new ads, created by Miami-based Crispin Porter + Bogusky, will begin airing across the country on Monday, November 18, 2002.

Directed by The Royal Tenenbaums writer/director Wes Anderson, the second series of the campaign’s TV ads, “Kitchen” and “Living Room,” use humorously frank family discussions to show that life is “unböring” and so is shopping at IKEA.

The first thirty-second commercial, “Kitchen,” peeks into the life of a couple that is in the midst of an argument. The wife is “stuck in here like some prisoner” and accusing her husband of “prowling the streets,” when suddenly they are interrupted by a voice, “so…” The camera pulls back to show an IKEA showroom display and an IKEA co-worker, “what do you guys think?” The couple looks around the IKEA kitchen and says, “it feels good, we’ll take it.” A product montage with the IKEA logo and “shop unböring” flashes during the last few seconds.

In the second spot, “Living Room” which will air later in the month, we see a young woman slouched in a chair across from her mother. “Honey, what’s wrong?” her mother asks. “I’m pregnant,” she answers. Her father begins ranting about her “creepy boyfriend” and saying “I knew this would happen.” An IKEA co-worker interrupts the two, “so…what do you think?” The camera pulls back to reveal an IKEA living room showroom display. “I like it. It feels good, we’ll take it,” says the couple. The IKEA logo and “shop unböring” flash during the last few seconds.

“The beauty of these spots is the reality that at IKEA anyone can find what they need to create their personalized life at home,” said Gina Raiser, advertising manager, IKEA North America. “By giving a picture of shoppers in our stores having the most extreme and intimate conversations, which we take to exaggeration, we effectively communicate that our IKEA shopping experience and product designs are exactly what customers want and are comfortable with, making it feel just like home.”

In the U.S., TV airtime buys include prime time, some early morning slots as well as during high-rating shows such as NBC’s Friends, Will and Grace and Frasier. The U.S. buys are concentrated in IKEA store markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia, and exclude IKEA franchise markets including Seattle, San Diego and Houston.

The yearlong marketing campaign, which is centered around the theme “Unböring”, includes TV, print, outdoor, wildpostings, direct and interactive (www.unboring.com), and addresses the relationship many people have with their furniture and humorously demonstrates that it’s possible to create the life you really want at home with IKEA home furnishings.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky Creative Credits

Kitchen and Living Room TV spots
Creative Credits
Creative Director: Alex Bogusky
Associate Creative Director: Paul Keister
Art Director: Paul Stechschulte
Copywriter: Tom Adams
Agency Producer: Rupert Samuel

Account Team
Management Supervisor: Rick Humphrey
Account Supervisor: Marianne Pizzi

Production
Director: Wes Anderson

Production Co.: Moxie Pictures
Editor
Edit House: Lost Planet

Editors: Adam Schwartz and Geoff Hounsell

About IKEA
Since its founding in 1943, IKEA has offered a wide range of home furnishings and accessories of good design and function, at prices so low that the majority of the people can afford them. IKEA is recognized as a socially responsible company, and continuously supports initiatives that benefit causes such as children and the environment. Currently, IKEA has more than 175 stores in 31 countries, including 15 stores in the United States and nine stores in Canada. To visit the IKEA Web site, please go to http://www.ikea-us.com.

About Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Crispin Porter + Bogusky is perhaps best known as creators of the 'truth’ anti-tobacco campaigns and for their work on the US launch of the BMW MINI line of automobiles. Based in Miami and Los Angeles, Crispin Porter + Bogusky's other clients include IKEA, Molson and Bacardi. In the past three years, the agency has been named Advertising Age's Creativity Magazine "Agency of the Year" as well as twice being named Adweek's "Agency of the Year" for the Southeast.