Flat pack furniture and melodrama at Ikea Heights
by Katie Shoard
Who’d have thought a Swedish furniture shop could provide the ideal location for a gripping melodrama?
I thought it was just somewhere couples went to have arguments.
Ikea Heights is a spoof soap opera filmed entirely at the Burbank store in California without the store’s permission. It’s really well done too. Customers are milling around in the background, busy deliberating whether the BILLY or the FLÄRKE bookcase would better complement their lounge decor… blissfully unaware of the scandal and intrigue unfolding around them.
James wakes up from his nightmare, fully dressed.
The first episode opens with James waking up suddenly in bed (in the Bed Department), fully dressed for work.
He turns to his wife:
“Candi, I had that nightmare again.”
“The one where I poison you?” she retorts, quickly.
He’s obviously troubled, and she obviously couldn’t care less.
Poor James, he’s a hardworking, stand-up guy who works for Mr Taft in the Office Furniture section. He suspects Candice, his manipulative and rather busty wife is having an affair. And he’s right. It’s not long before she’s caught en flagrante with cock-sure Jeffery from Soft Furnishings, the tart.
Then we meet Vivianne and Tom in their home in the Kitchen department. She’s upset because there’s no running water – and no, it’s not because they’re living in a showhome – it’s been cut off. Hubby Tom has got them into horrendous debt and is mixed up with some very bad people.
The plot thickens.
Cut to the bad guys. We meet scary Federico and his sycophantic side-kick Nelson laughing manically while they discuss which type of pillow from the Ikea range is best for smothering. In case you ever need to know, down is much better than polyester.
Candice and Jeffery get cosy in Soft Furnishings
With sentimental music, lingering close-ups and over dramatic dialogue, Ikea Heights is both compelling and hilarious. There’s enough self-awareness in the performances to make it funny instead of cheesy – but just like cheese, once you have a bit, you want more. As the first episode wraps up an affair has been exposed, a murder committed and a message from beyond the grave provides the obligatory cliff-hanger. This might even prove more entertaining than R.Kelly’s ‘In the Closet’ hip-hopera.
Perhaps unintentionally, Dan Segers and his team have produced a brilliant piece of viral advertising which has received some excellent coverage in the press. It even got a mention in the L.A. Times. And although Ikea didn’t officially sanction it and filming was stopped in-store twice, Mona Astra Liss, Ikea’s PR Director, said they saw the funny side, ”I thought it was very playful and fun and complimentary to our brand.” How refreshing. Well, I suppose it had saved them a fortune in publicity costs.
I’m hooked. Right, I’m off to find out if that cow Candice gets what’s coming to her…
N.B. The video takes a while to load so you’ll have to be patient. It’s well worth the wait .
Tags: advert, Advertising, Advertising Agency, Brand Identity, Branding, Digital television, Digital Video, Digital Video Marketing Campaign, Ikea, IKEA Heights, Internet Marketing Agency, Marketing Agency, Online Digital Video, Online Marketing, Online Marketing Campaign, PPC Agency, SEO Compnay, spoof advert, Television Commercial, TV Production, Viral Marketing Campaign
