Ikea “Lord & Lady Muck” & “Emily Bronte” [00:50], “Bedroom” & “Dinner” [00:20], “Sunbathers” & “Language” [00:10]#
“Stop being so English,” is the theme of this Ikea campaign and addresses some typical British preoccupations, which a hair-raising Swedish character, who pops up in the longer spots, describes as “backward-looking.” These include things such as a longing to belong to the upper classes. (This is embodied by a young couple who, before being converted to the Ikea style of interior design, used to furnish their home in mock Victorian style and are shown playing croquet on their tiny lawn while their multi-racial neighborhood looks on in contempt.) The woman in the second spot who used to keep her videos in boxes that looked like antique book covers admits tearily to having been under the impression of being a Emily Bronte character waiting for her Heathcliff to show up. She too is cured from the pathetic British ailment by subscribing to the Ikea style of furnishing her home. The shorter spots show typical British characteristics and then end on the Ikea logo plus the above-cited line.