Watch: IKEA's first ever Christmas advert features a rapping teapot
IKEA has released their first ever Christmas advert and the story hopes to encourage people to feel proud of their homes and defy the feeling of 'home shame' when welcoming guests into their space.
Entitled Silence The Critics, IKEA's ad has a different tone to many of the festive clips we see on our TVs in the run-up to the big day. It swaps a sentimental, heartwarming tale for a funny rap about a family's supposedly messy home.
When the mum of the house receives a text message from friends suggesting they come over for dinner, the household appliances, decorations and trinkets, come to life to taunt the parents with a comedy song about how the house is in need of some TLC before they can host guests.
Lines like "this place is a mess, you don't deserve no guests" from the novelty teapot and "this table's older than the pyramids, at least it's younger than the mirror is" from the umbrella handle, drive home the message.
But, at a time when sustainability pressures are encouraging us to move more towards a make-do-and-mend culture rather than buying new things, we need to make sure our buying habits don't run away with us.
IKEA have put new sustainability measures in place recently, announcing last year that they have banned all single-use plastic straws from their stores. In March 2019, they also launched their sustainable London Greenwich store, which repurposes old products into 'animal apartments'.
IKEA says:"Our first IKEA Christmas advert focuses on the phenomenon of 'home shame' – encouraging people to overcome the negative voices in their head holding them back from opening up their homes.
"It was born from the common feeling, that along with the seasonal joys, a lot of us feel a looming sense of dread when it comes to hosting others with many of us feel ashamed of our homes over the Christmas period.
"We believe that every home can and should be worthy of a get-together and that with a little imagination, some clever products and ideas, there’s no reason not to be proud to invite your nearest and dearest over. This campaign aims to inspire us all to get our homes party-ready and 'Silence the Critics', once and for all."
How to be more sustainable when updating your home
• Make sure your old furniture goes to a good place rather than landfill – donate it to charity shops or friends, put it on Freecycle or sell it for a reasonable price.
• Could you upcycle existing pieces to give them a new lease of life? For example, could old curtains make new cushion covers or tea towels?
• Consider where your new home items have come from – are they sustainably made and will they last a long time?
• Make sure you get proper care instructions when buying new items so you can keep then looking newer for longer.
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