Ikea may be one of the world's most iconic flatpack furniture stores, but it has also been known to make or break couples as they navigate from showroom to showroom making decisions about beds and sofas, before attempting to squeeze their purchases into a car, get it home in one piece and then spend the next few hours trying to put it all together.
None of this is mentioned by Ikea in the video for a new emoticon app it has just launched, which is designed to "help couples communicate better".
According to a press statement, Ikea Emoticons is an app that enables people to "easily add an additional keyboard with Ikea brand icons to their smartphone".
"The keyboard lets people express themselves with emoji of Ikea icons, products and everyday household items," the company says.
"Ikea wants to help to keep the conversation about clutter [in the home] light and positive with friendly emoticons, all with a twinkle in the eye."
In a video which starts with a cartoon of cavemen and women – an unusual choice for a company born out of gender-equal Sweden – an Ikea 'expert' in a white coat explains that "since the dawn of time men and women have found difficulty in communication" and suggests that Ikea has the answer after four hundred years of civilisation "a series of emoticons to take the misunderstandings out of your communication".
The idea is that if you're having a bad day, rather than rowing with your partner, you can send them a meatballs icon – to explain you love them more than meatballs. You could alternatively forward them a photo of a chest of drawers you're planning to buy them to say sorry. Or something like that.
What the company describes as a 'tutorial video' had gained almost 400,000 hits since it was launched via the international company's Netherlands YouTube channel on February 4th and the company said in a statement sent to The Local on Wednesday that it anticipated "a good deal more pick up in the coming days".
But The Local's readers seemed largely unimpressed by the idea when quizzed on Facebook.
"Would it really helps to communication between couples? Come on guys!" said Oxana Naess.
Other home European furnishing stores hit the headlines for very different reasons on Wednesday, with British decorating and furniture company B&Q admitting that it had stocked up on extra ropes and gaffa tape in anticipation of the launch of the much-hyped S&M movie Fifty Shades of Grey.
When asked by Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper if it had done the same, Swedish home store Clas Ohlson said it had not scheduled any extra deliveries.
"It's a fun thing, but we haven't really thought about this film. We will not observe the premiere in any particular way," said its spokesperson Sara Kraft Westrell.
Please whitelist us to continue reading.