IKEA Reaches Out with a Playful Late-Night Offer for Social Media Scrollers

IKEA has slid into the DMs of late-night scrollers in Canada in its new campaign. The campaign, created by independent agency Rethink, saw the brand sending Instagram users a classic “u up?” text.

Users who respond to the message were then given discounts on IKEA mattresses until 23 February. “If you’re seeing this, you need a better mattress. So, we’re offering you a discount on an IKEA mattress to help you sleep better,” said IKEA Canada in a statement on Instagram.

Those who engaged in some late-night banter between 10pm and 5am were rewarded with a free mattress entirely.

Beyond direct messaging, the brand also took the campaign outdoors, putting up billboards featuring the cheeky text alongside a one-liner promoting a 15% discount on all mattresses.

IKEA has always taken a cheeky spin with its campaigns. For Chinese New Year in Singapore last year, the brand took on then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong’s call for your Singaporeans to boost birth rates by welcoming “a little dragon” into their homes to the next level.

The brand put out ads promoting its duvet and pillowcase sets with the texts “Unleash your dragon” and “It’s getting huat in here”. IKEA also wished customers a happy Valentine’s night.

Most recently, IKEA went old-school in a move to revamp its loyalty programme, IKEA Family. The campaign saw IKEA employees partaking in trends from over a decade ago. The trends include the Harlem Shakea trend that went viral in 2013 where groups of people dance to the song Harlem Shake; the Mannequin Challenge where participants stand like statues in a mannequin-like pose; and the Bottle Flip from 2016 where folks threw bottles up in the air in a bid to get it to stand upright.