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IKEA Channels Apple in a Hilarious Ad for Its New Catalog ‘Bookbook’

45 points by klintcho 12y ago

bruceboughton 12y ago
I'm surprised that someone like IKEA has gone for this. These sort of mock ads usually come across as quite petty, especially for big organisations. It seems more appropriate for something like the Somersby Cider commercial (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3rNQ2pTyAY) where the product is already light-hearted to some extent.
- rdtsc 12y ago
  We are discussing it on HN, I saw it on Reddit and someone told me a friend shared it with them on Facebook. I say this ad worked.
- Gracana 12y ago
  > These sort of mock ads usually come across as quite petty, especially for big organisations. I think the trick here is that Ikea isn't competing with Apple, so it doesn't come across as trying to make fun of Apple's style, it's just having fun with Apple's style.
  - AVTizzle 12y ago
    Well said. I didn't get a malicious feeling from Ikea. More playful than anything.
    - jusben1369 12y ago
      Yeah I think the headlines are trying to bait us. I felt like Ikea was poking fun at the digital vs physical world. The ad style was definitely lifted from Apple but the "specs" approach could be any new device "No lag! Each page loads instantaneously via tactile touch" or whatever. Quite good.
- burgers 12y ago
  I don't know if this is as much a mock ad against a particular company(those are the ones that typically come off petty) and more about trying to relay to the consumer there is more to life than a touchscreen device. This ties into IKEAs brand perfectly. The more you care about the "Real World" the more likely you are to spend time(and money) decorating and enhancing your surroundings, like your home. It's not so much a mock ad as much as it's reinforcing the value proposition of what IKEA brings to the consumer. The ability to enhance the real world. It does so via proxy by reinforcing the value proposition of the real world in general. Fantastic marketing.
- snowwrestler 12y ago
  Ikea has a history of irreverent advertising. This ad was pretty well-received: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqhIVyfsRg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqhIVyfsRg
rplnt 12y ago
I kind of like it, but it's too long. I would cut out the sharing, passwords, maybe something else. It's not as interesting so people would spend over two minutes watching it.
- gk1 12y ago
  But you watched the full video, didn't you?
  - rplnt 12y ago
    I was actually writing that comment while it was still running in the background :)
sarreph 12y ago
Despite being an amazing parody, the irony is that the bookbook is made out of paper — if it was actually digital instead, that'd be a whole lot of trees not getting destroyed...
- randomsearch 12y ago
  > that'd be a whole lot of trees not getting destroyed... Is there evidence that ebooks are better for the environment? The cost of manufacturing and delivering the reader, which may be replaced quite frequently, and the costs of cloud-based delivery make it non-obvious to me. Maybe ebooks save paper, but have a higher carbon cost?
  - walterbell 12y ago
    Paper can be made from renewable hemp instead of forests, http://www.mastersoflinen.com/eng/histoire http://www.mastersoflinen.com/eng/histoire "Perfected by Tsai Lung for the Chinese emperor between 62 and 117 A.D., the technique of making paper with hemp was discovered in the Western world after the Battle of Samarkand (751 A.D). In 1456 Gutenberg printed a Bible on hemp paper, the United States’ Declaration of Independence was also written on hemp paper in 1776."
    - pdx 12y ago
      I agree. Paper should be made from something like hemp, which can be replanted and harvested again later. Enough of this tree paper. http://www.cof.orst.edu/cof/newfmc/product_examples/forestlearn/forests/reforc.htm http://www.cof.orst.edu/cof/newfmc/product_examples/forestle...
    - dragonwriter 12y ago
      > Paper can be made from renewable hemp instead of forests Hemp may have a greater sustainable yield per acre (or some other constraint) than other fiber sources for paper [1], but forests are quite obviously also renewable. [1] I'm not saying it does, just granting that this is possible as I haven't looked into it.
TrainedMonkey 12y ago
"Another special feature is voice activated password protection - excuse me, that is mine". Something fishy about that one, pretty sure this feature was built into everything since forever.
- rmc 12y ago
  Marketing people are always claiming something is new and revolutionary.
- 6d0debc071 12y ago
  You mean I've been hitting people with rocks all these years for nothing?!
  - TrainedMonkey 12y ago
    Of course not, I am sure it served an ... educational purpose.
ryanthejuggler 12y ago
http://www.twelvesouth.com/product/bookbook-for-macbook-air-retina http://www.twelvesouth.com/product/bookbook-for-macbook-air-... Cue infringement suit in 5, 4, 3...

45 points by klintcho 12y ago

I'm surprised that someone like IKEA has gone for this. These sort of mock ads usually come across as quite petty, especially for big organisations. It seems more appropriate for something like the Somersby Cider commercial (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3rNQ2pTyAY) where the product is already light-hearted to some extent.

rdtsc 12y ago
We are discussing it on HN, I saw it on Reddit and someone told me a friend shared it with them on Facebook. I say this ad worked.
Gracana 12y ago
> These sort of mock ads usually come across as quite petty, especially for big organisations. I think the trick here is that Ikea isn't competing with Apple, so it doesn't come across as trying to make fun of Apple's style, it's just having fun with Apple's style.
- AVTizzle 12y ago
  Well said. I didn't get a malicious feeling from Ikea. More playful than anything.
  - jusben1369 12y ago
    Yeah I think the headlines are trying to bait us. I felt like Ikea was poking fun at the digital vs physical world. The ad style was definitely lifted from Apple but the "specs" approach could be any new device "No lag! Each page loads instantaneously via tactile touch" or whatever. Quite good.
burgers 12y ago
I don't know if this is as much a mock ad against a particular company(those are the ones that typically come off petty) and more about trying to relay to the consumer there is more to life than a touchscreen device. This ties into IKEAs brand perfectly. The more you care about the "Real World" the more likely you are to spend time(and money) decorating and enhancing your surroundings, like your home. It's not so much a mock ad as much as it's reinforcing the value proposition of what IKEA brings to the consumer. The ability to enhance the real world. It does so via proxy by reinforcing the value proposition of the real world in general. Fantastic marketing.
snowwrestler 12y ago
Ikea has a history of irreverent advertising. This ad was pretty well-received: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqhIVyfsRg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqhIVyfsRg

rplnt 12y ago

I kind of like it, but it's too long. I would cut out the sharing, passwords, maybe something else. It's not as interesting so people would spend over two minutes watching it.

gk1 12y ago
But you watched the full video, didn't you?
- rplnt 12y ago
  I was actually writing that comment while it was still running in the background :)

sarreph 12y ago

Despite being an amazing parody, the irony is that the bookbook is made out of paper — if it was actually digital instead, that'd be a whole lot of trees not getting destroyed...

randomsearch 12y ago
> that'd be a whole lot of trees not getting destroyed... Is there evidence that ebooks are better for the environment? The cost of manufacturing and delivering the reader, which may be replaced quite frequently, and the costs of cloud-based delivery make it non-obvious to me. Maybe ebooks save paper, but have a higher carbon cost?
- walterbell 12y ago
  Paper can be made from renewable hemp instead of forests, http://www.mastersoflinen.com/eng/histoire http://www.mastersoflinen.com/eng/histoire "Perfected by Tsai Lung for the Chinese emperor between 62 and 117 A.D., the technique of making paper with hemp was discovered in the Western world after the Battle of Samarkand (751 A.D). In 1456 Gutenberg printed a Bible on hemp paper, the United States’ Declaration of Independence was also written on hemp paper in 1776."
  - pdx 12y ago
    I agree. Paper should be made from something like hemp, which can be replanted and harvested again later. Enough of this tree paper. http://www.cof.orst.edu/cof/newfmc/product_examples/forestlearn/forests/reforc.htm http://www.cof.orst.edu/cof/newfmc/product_examples/forestle...
  - dragonwriter 12y ago
    > Paper can be made from renewable hemp instead of forests Hemp may have a greater sustainable yield per acre (or some other constraint) than other fiber sources for paper [1], but forests are quite obviously also renewable. [1] I'm not saying it does, just granting that this is possible as I haven't looked into it.

TrainedMonkey 12y ago

"Another special feature is voice activated password protection - excuse me, that is mine". Something fishy about that one, pretty sure this feature was built into everything since forever.

rmc 12y ago
Marketing people are always claiming something is new and revolutionary.
6d0debc071 12y ago
You mean I've been hitting people with rocks all these years for nothing?!
- TrainedMonkey 12y ago
  Of course not, I am sure it served an ... educational purpose.

ryanthejuggler 12y ago

http://www.twelvesouth.com/product/bookbook-for-macbook-air-retina http://www.twelvesouth.com/product/bookbook-for-macbook-air-... Cue infringement suit in 5, 4, 3...