Creative Director’s Choice: Fuse’s Nikki Sulentic on Ikea’s ‘Real Life’ TV living rooms
Creative Director’s Choice gives creative directors a chance to highlight the work they think is the best out in the ad world — the ads and campaigns they believe are making a difference.
Simpsons living room from Ikea
This week, Nikki Sulentic, creative director at Fuse, looks at Ikea’s real life recreations of famous TV show living rooms.
The Simpsons, Friends and Stranger Things. The common thread? Yes, they’ve consumed the better part of our lives, given us (me) advanced vision impairment, made us realise that no-one told you ‘life was gonna be this way’ (damn straight) and educated us on the inability to spell America without Erica (if you know, you know).
Better still, each of the iconic living rooms from the shows were recently recreated by Ikea and Publicis Spain, in a brilliant ad campaign called ‘Real Life Series’.
Each room was built entirely with Ikea furniture. It’s madness and I absolutely adore it.
I also truly appreciate that, in a time when the advertising industry is pumping out very worthy campaigns, we have this campaign. it has no other purpose than to simply be fun, entertaining and clever, igniting some delicious nostalgia – and I want to buy it all now.
This work not only proves how ridiculously extensive Ikea’s range is, but does so by using clever viral marketing – jumping off the back of the most recognisable living spaces in popular culture.
Imagine the hours of searching for the right products to replicate the originals? Vinod Jayan, managing director of Ikea UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Oman, said: “The Ikea team worked closely with the creatives for months…They went through hundreds of items to find the perfect pieces that would bring those iconic rooms [to life].”
It’s really nice to see the determination from both client and agency in this respect. I can’t imagine it would’ve been easy to match that traumatised, red striped throw on the Byers’ lounge: it’s gazed further into the future than I’m sure it cared to.
So, if you’ve ever found yourself wondering where Marge found that killer rug (and I’m pretty certain you have) look no further. You can grab the Lattjo for £10 at Ikea now. Bargain.
Nikki Sulentic is creative director at London agency Fuse.
See the work by clicking on the Creative Works box below.
To see the latest creative ads and campaigns, visit The Drum’s Creative Works section. If you or your creative director would like to be featured in our Creative Director’s Choice, please contact Kyle O’Brien.
