The Ikea stars

By now it's lying around in most of our homes: the new Ikea catalog. It would probably appeal even without the advertising measures that accompanied the launch. It's a feast for the eyes: good photos, good texts, good design - and, incidentally, some beautiful new furniture. Agencies around the world are making sure that the catalog gets even more attention than it would get anyway. The Wirz campaign with furniture actor Torbjörn Lundberg has - like Karasek's catalog literary criticism last year - once again caused a sensation internationally and also interested specialist media on the other side of the Atlantic; in some cases even enraptured them.

Last week, DDB Brussels also used a similar making-of concept to promote the meatball bible, which has been distributed over 220 million times worldwide. With one difference: the protagonists shown really do appear in the catalog. And that makes them so proud that they are happy to talk in great detail about their demanding work. Even if they can only be seen from behind (page 102) or blurred (pages 54/55) in the background. Because Ikea makes one thing clear: the stars are the furniture. Ingenious - but that's what you've come to expect from Belgian creative forges. (hae)