Lamp
IKEA2002
Lamp is a 2002 television commercial for IKEA, created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Miami).
The line
Unböring
Why it works
A woman unplugs her old red desk lamp and leaves it on the curb. Rain falls, a mournful piano swells, and through the window we see her cosy up beside a gleaming new IKEA lamp. Then a bespectacled man with a Swedish accent steps into frame and scolds us: "Many of you feel bad for this lamp. That is because you're crazy." Directed by Spike Jonze, it was the first spot Crispin Porter + Bogusky made for IKEA, a brand still unfamiliar to much of America, and it targeted the guilt that keeps people living with furniture they have outgrown. It is studied as the definitive rug-pull: build real sentiment, then puncture it so the punchline carries the brand's argument. The spot launched the "Unböring" tag, won the Grand Clio, and took the 2003 Cannes Film Grand Prix after a record-long jury session, pushing the favourite, Honda's "Cog", into third place.
Techniques
- Humour Builds real pity for an abandoned lamp in the rain, then has a Swedish-accented man call viewers crazy for feeling bad, puncturing the sentiment.
- Storytelling A woman discards her old lamp for a new one in a melancholy mini-drama whose twist turns the guilt of replacing furniture into the brand's argument.
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