• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
RetailIKEA

Ikea’s New Ad Tries to Fix Relationships It Might Have Broken Up

Lucinda Shen
By
Lucinda Shen
Lucinda Shen
Down Arrow Button Icon
Lucinda Shen
By
Lucinda Shen
Lucinda Shen
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 9, 2016, 8:20 AM ET

Amy Poelher once quipped that Ikea is the Swedish word for “argument.”

That’s because a trip to one of the Netherlands-based furniture retailer’s stores has been known to test relationships. The company even has a special name for products that are difficult to assemble: “Sometimes,” Allan Dickner, Ikea’s deputy manager of packaging, told Fortune in 2015, “we call it a ‘husband killer.’”

But instead of spurring a couple’s therapy session, Ikea now wants its products to help solve its customer’s relationship problems—romantic and familial—in a new ad campaign called “Retail Therapy.” Created by ad agency Åkestam Holst, the campaign renames Ikea products after commonly searched relationship problems in Sweden. The campaign launched a few weeks ago. Here’s one of the new ads.

[vimeo 194489560 w=640 h=360]

Need to impress someone? Ikea’s got a bookcase for that. Raised a son that “plays too much computer games”? The retailer suggests scissors. Got a snorer on your bed? Daybed.

“So whether it’s a snoring husband, a never ending gaming son or any other relationship problem you have, Ikea can come to the rescue,” the agency wrote on Ads of the World. “Or at least put a smile on your face, while you keep googling for an answer.”

About the Author
Lucinda Shen
By Lucinda Shen
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Retail

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
Fortune Secondary Logo
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Retail

HealthFood and drink
Chains like Sweetgreen and Chipotle are finally realizing they need to look beyond the ‘slop bowl’
By Phil WahbaFebruary 27, 2026
9 hours ago
burger king
AIOpenAI
Burger King tests OpenAI-powered headsets that will track the friendliness of drive-through workers
By Dee-Ann Durbin and The Associated PressFebruary 27, 2026
13 hours ago
Two restaurant workers wearing black stand in front of a silver "Flippy" fry station.
AIAutomation
Meet your new robot fry cooks: Inside the $28 billion race to disrupt White Castle and Jack in the Box
By Sasha RogelbergFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago
Customers in the electronics section at Walmart on Black Friday in Columbus, Ohio, US, on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. Americans are planning to spend more this holiday season than last year, according to credit reporting firm TransUnion. Photographer: Brian Kaiser/Bloomberg via Getty Images
C-SuiteLeadership
McKinsey studied 61 growth companies that outperformed their peers through COVID, inflation, and labor shocks. Here’s what they all had in common
By Geoff ColvinFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago
The Home Depot storefront
InvestingHome Depot
Home Depot CEO says with the housing market stalemate, ‘our customers are telling us that they’re not investing’
By Jacqueline MunisFebruary 25, 2026
3 days ago
CommentaryCulture
Gen Z’s enthusiasm for all things touchable is resurrecting the analog economy—and costing parents
By Luba KassovaFebruary 24, 2026
3 days ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Innovation
An MIT roboticist who cofounded bankrupt robot vacuum maker iRobot says Elon Musk’s vision of humanoid robot assistants is ‘pure fantasy thinking’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezFebruary 25, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Jeff Bezos says being lazy, not working hard, is the root of anxiety: ‘The stress goes away the second I take that first step’
By Sydney LakeFebruary 25, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Commentary
'The Pitt': a masterclass display of DEI in action 
By Robert RabenFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
It’s more than George Clooney moving to France: America is becoming the ‘uncool’ country that people want to move away from
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 27, 2026
19 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Gen Z Olympic champion Eileen Gu says she rewires her brain daily to be more successful—and multimillionaire founder Arianna Huffington says it really does work
By Orianna Rosa RoyleFebruary 25, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Trump claims America is ‘winning so much.’ The IMF agrees, adding that Trump’s trade policies are the only thing holding it back from even more
By Tristan BoveFebruary 26, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.