Visit Sweden is letting Ikea’s customers know what’s behind the homeware retailer’s product names: Beautiful lakes, breathtaking mountains and picturesque villages. A new ad campaign is inviting visitors to “Discover the Originals.”
For instance, Bolmen, seen in the picture above, is a tranquil lake in the Småland (yes, it’s a place, not just the leave-your-kids area of your local Ikea store) area; residents say they are happy to have Ikea use their name but would like to be known for their clear water rather than as a cheap toilet brush.
The ads pair the Ikea product with the actual scene.
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The town of Skärhamn with its namesake door handles
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Nils Persson of Visit Sweden told press that “We are proud of IKEA and in a way, you can say that they helped us make Swedish places world-famous through the names they borrowed for their products. Now we want, with warmth and a twinkle in our eye, to show the originals behind the product names and invite the world to discover the whole of Sweden.”
Since its start in 1943, Ikea has used Swedish place names and plant and flower names for its products; there’s even a system: outdoor furniture named for islands, fabric for Swedish women’s names, etc.
