The almighty "i"
So I found myself in IKEA on the weekend. Man, I hate that place...and I can't put my finger on why. I kind of formulated a theory that it's akin to my dislike of the line of iPod products. Something to do with it being too ubiquitous and pretentious. It's not a perfect analogy but for IKEA it seems like people default to that place thinking it's hip and cool when it's just a glorified Wal Mart. Which is fine, but call a spade a spade, you know? And in the meantime there are way better alternatives...although maybe not at the same prices...or amount of tea lights...
Same with iPods. They're every-freakin'-where...but there are lots of alternatives. But I got to admit, design-wise, iPods are pretty much crème de la crème.
I guess it's the same as the general hatred of Microsoft...but at least Microsoft doesn't really pretend to be hip and cool(their Madonna/XP launch notwithstanding).
The biggest irony though, having said all this, is that most of you guys on this blog don't have iPods...the only one is Charles and.....Rafi?!
posted by The Man with the Plan @ 10:55 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
what's not to like about ikea? their stuff generally look nice and are affordable. outside of ikea, comparably priced items are complete crap, and similar looking items cost outrageously more. (enough to motivate me, sloth incarnate, to assemble furniture.)
most people i know like ikea for the value. i'm not aware of any snob factor.
Yeah, you guys are right...it's probably that I'm the one that's pretentious and found IKEA beneath me...or maybe I was just bitter because I was the only single guy walking through there and 80% of everyone else were young, couples.
Still though, "pretentious" probably was the wrong word. And it's probably more the public's perception than IKEA's marketing. I still get the sense that people are there thinking they're at this cool store...when it's not. I remember in NOW or EYE once IKEA made some list for "Best place to be seen with your new boyfriend/girlfriend". I'm not sure why I brought that up.
speaking of cool, i'm reminded of this ikea ad by spike jonze. i don't know if it ever aired in canada.
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