IKEA Homes In On Christmas Chaos In Succinct, ‘Brutally Honest’ Advert

Screenshot of video by IKEA Norge, courtesy of TRY Oslo

Your IKEA catalog sold an idyllic life at home that could only exist in pictures. Now, as the holiday season approaches, more brands are promoting similar fantasies. In a world filled with sparkly holiday advertisements, IKEA Norway is breaking the mold with a “brutally honest” Christmas campaign. Instead of glossy perfection, the spot, crafted by creative agency TRY Oslo, sheds light on the chaos and stress that takes place behind the scenes.

The short and not-so-sweet festive film starts in a beautifully decorated holiday home, but it quickly reveals a more relatable setting—an IKEA store, with the well-curated home as part of a showroom.

The scene quickly transitions to a father struggling to manage his overly active children, humorously emphasizing that the holidays aren’t always as pretty as you want them to be.

Video courtesy of TRY Oslo

The clip continues the furniture giant’s Life is Not An IKEA Catalog campaign, in which the illusions of lovely homes are shattered by the more honest parts of life.

Besides just highlighting the havoc, the commercial also offers a solution. It encourages shoppers to use IKEA’s click-and-collect service, saving them from the potential stress of in-store visits during this busy season.

Celin Kjenslie, marketing director at IKEA Norway, says the team wanted to rekindle the magic of the unglamorous after the previous attempts received an “overwhelmingly positive” reception for showcasing the realities of everyday life.

“So, as Christmas approached, we saw a golden opportunity to portray a slightly more honest side of the pre-Christmas period than what people may be used to seeing on screen.”

[via TRY Oslo, video courtesy]