IKEA Canada - Wonderful World (2017) :90 (Canada)

IKEA Canada is less hard sell of flatpacked funriture, and more soft sell of "core values" (in Swedish this called "värdegrund") This ad, which is the centerpiece of a broader “Beautiful Possibilities” campaign, is agency Rethink Toronto’s first work for the brand. On full display here is not the classic Billy bookshelf, but IKEA's ad proposition of making the world a better place. We see this wonderful world through the eyes of a little girl riding home with her little IKEA bought succulent plant, as she narrates the song. She sees two girls going on a prom date together. Then a man who adds solar panels to his roof. A little boy gets a mom-manicure. Then a girl with a long mop of dark hair who chases her brothers into a house and past the photograph of her in a refugee camp somewhere. The long sell here is that everyone can change the world, starting at home of course. It feels a tad schmaltzy, as these ads checking off all the current hot topic boxes of lesbian, gender non-conforming, migrants & earth saving green electricity tend to do. But the iconic song is lovely as usual and the core thought of changing the world staring at home works well. Then we get the Swedish accent VO at the end, which is awful. It might have been quirky and offbeat to use that accent in Lamp, and the accent sets Swedish hard cider apart from the others while teaching fun words like "knullrufs", but it's a horrible accent and I can't stand it. Your milage may vary.

Client: Ikea

Title: Wonderful World

Agency: Rethink Canada

Creative Director: Aaron Starkman

Art Director: Joel Holtby

Copywriter: Mike Dubrick

Strategist: Sean McDonald

Broadcast Producer (in house): Catherine Dumas

Production Company: Revolver

Director: Reynald Gresset

Editor: Ross Burchall

Director of photography: Matias Boucard

Line Producer: Rob Allen

Post Production House: Saints

Editorial On-Line: Fort York

VFX Grading: Co3 Audio House: Vapor RMW

Date of First Appearance: September 11, 2017

Rethink Canada Account Services: Caleb Goodman, Lynn Summers, Becky Rudson Media Buying Agency: Jungle Media Sheri Metcalfe, SVP Planning Brock Leeson, VP Digital Courtney Rimar, Broadcast Investment Manager Janet Xi, Group Media Manager Catherine Ramsey, Media Planner Aman Soin, Assistant Media Planner Sherry Jean, Social Content Strategist