It is worth that your city or the natural area of your town put a name to a bookstore or a chair. But, a toilet brush or a garbage can? Sweden has said enough to IKEA.
A government promotional campaign Sweden call discover the originalsreveals that the Swedes are a little fed up with the map of sweden has become the IKEA catalog.
Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, was dyslexic, so he had trouble remembering acronyms or catalog codes, which is what is commonly used with furniture. That’s why he decided to baptize them with the names of towns and places in your country, Swedento remember them better.
But IKEA items are not named randomly, they follow rules. Living room items such as armchairs, sofas or dining tables are named after Swedish cities. The rugs are rural locations, and bathroom items are rivers and lakes. Office supplies have masculine names. The fabrics and curtains, for women. And accessories for children, animals.
Bolmen Lake, more than an IKEA toilet brush
If you are looking for images of the word The ball in Google, what should appear is the famous and crystalline Lake Bolmen. It is so clean that you can put a glass in the water and drink it. Some people do.
But what appears on Google is… IKEA toilet brushes. Why They are called Bolmen. And the truth is it is quite offensive for the localities that live from the tourism of the lake, one of the cleanest in the world, but it is associated with an object that is quite disgusting. It happens with many others IKEA names.
As we can see in this announcement, its inhabitants have said enough:
It is not the only example. Tolfananother beautiful crystalline lake, is a garbage can. Himleån, an idyllic river, is a bath towel.
IKEA defends himself by arguing that names bathroom objects after rivers and lakes, precisely to convey cleanliness and freshness. But it does not convince those affected.
Last year, the Swedish government launched an advertising campaign called Discover the Originals, showing 20 of IKEA’s best-selling itemsand its corresponding place in sweden mapto invite people to visit it.
The truth is that IKEA has known how to take advantage very intelligently, at a commercial level, the prestige and good reputation of his country. It is no coincidence that IKEA colors are blue and yellow, the same as the Swedish flag.
The map of Sweden has become an IKEA catalog, and its inhabitants revolt. They do not want them to use their emblematic places to name objects such as the toilet brusho a garbage can. Anger seems reasonable…
