How Swede It Is

Even though back-to-school time is just around the corner and all the newbie university students will be dragging their apprehensive yet utterly relieved parents to IKEA for all their dorm room needs, it's not that group of unsuspecting hipsters who are being targeted by a brand-spanking-new ad campaign; it's their older, more-ready-to-settle-down counterparts, the yupster (think Smart car owner).

Starting August 4, this fresh campaign (seemingly) targeting late twenty and early-thirty-somethings will air across the country. The spots were put together by Toronto communications firm Zig and feature dancers Robert "Mr. Fantastic" Muraine, and local talent Shugamai Johnson, known for her liquid dancing style. You may remember Mr. Fantastic from So You Think You Can Dance, where he brought popping to the stage. In these ads, Johnson and Muraine dance their way around their lovely IKEA-decorated apartment, rearranging items from the New Collection. Watch Muraine play with a desk lamp, Johnson slither around with a table lamp, or the two of them fight over the positioning of a vase.

The spots will be circulated on specialty channels and network programming, including on So You Think You Can Dance and Canadian Idol, as well as on digital billboards in downtown Toronto and Vancouver. They'll also be featured on TTC's OneStop video screens, and there'll be a lengthy movie ad as well as a three minute video on the IKEA website.

All this is to set the stage for yet another promotion, the So You Think You Can Decorate? contest, where consumers can submit images of rooms they've decorated with IKEA products for a chance to win $2,000.

Can't get enough? The new showroom on King East is opening tomorrow. So pop on over.

Image courtesy of Zig.