Ikea releases ad that doubles as a pregnancy test and reveals crib discount

The future of advertising 

Chelsea Ritschel
in New York
Wednesday 10 January 2018 16:16 GMT
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Ikea’s newest advert has a rather odd request for women.

Created by Swedish agency Åkestam Holst, the new ad featured in Amelia magazine asks them to pee on the ad - and if they're pregnant a special discount code on cots will be revealed.

Doubling as a free pregnancy test, the new ad, which reads, “Peeing on this ad could change your life,” uses technology similar to those found in pregnancy-test kits - and it is quite ingenious.

The store says that a positive pregnancy reading will result in a discount of 50 per cent off.

According to the agency, getting the technological aspect of the ad took some work. However, “The pregnancy test strip was used as a starting point, which relies on antibodies that bind to the pregnancy hormone hCG, resulting in colour change.”

Additionally, “Careful selection of materials, together with a controlled capillary flow have been crucial for the success of this project.”

Since the ad has been released, people have taken to social media to discuss it - and a majority are impressed with the innovation.

Others found humour in the new advert - while some found the concept gross.

Some people raised questions about how Ikea employees would go about accepting a positive pregnancy advert - while others wondered why bringing in a positive pregnancy test wasn't good enough.

Either way, it is impossible to deny that this is pretty cool technology.

Regarding the new advert, Åkestam Holst's Art Director, Evelina Rönnung, told The Independent: "We created an ad that connects the IKEA FAMILY discount with the functionality of a pregnancy test, in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. One of the most incredible moments in life is when that test comes out positive. But there are more urgent things to consider at that moment. Like a discounted crib.”

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