Wakefit gives IKEA sarcastic print ad welcome to Bengaluru

The ad (in Swedish) appeared in Bengaluru’s edition of ‘The Times of India’, giving the company pointers about the city.

Bengaluru citizens were surprised to see a Wakefit ad in ‘The Times of India’ this morning, written entirely in Swedish. The ad had a QR code at the bottom, with the caption, Not from Sweden? Don’t know Swedish? Please scan the QR code for the English version.

Scanning the QR code took the person to the Wakefit website, where one could access the English version of the ad. The ad talks about some aspects of the city – like it is well known for its good weather, craft beer, tasty food, and terrible traffic.

The ad even takes a dig at IKEA’s Bengaluru location (Nagasandra) and mentions that Wakefit’s stores are not located on the outskirts of the city. There is also a cheeky reminder about the Bengaluru traffic being terrible.

There is interest around the Swedish home furnishings brand (IKEA), as it is opening its third outlet in India – in Bengaluru. It has been going all out to promote the opening of the store. This includes an ad campaign with standup comic Danish Sait and an outdoor activation, a drone show by Swordfish Events and Entertainment.

IKEA currently has two stores – in Navi Mumbai and HITEC City, Hyderabad. Both stores are located on the outskirts of the cities. IKEA’s Hyderabad outlet is 400,000 sq ft (37,000 sq m) in area and the Navi Mumbai outlet is more than 500,000 lakh sq ft in area.

Wakefit took a dig at this aspect of IKEA’s business in the print ad too. The ad with Sait also reference the area it is located in. The ad mentions that initially, Nagasandra was known for its nature, but now it will be known for its furniture. Nagasandra was previously known for its forts, botanical gardens and adventure sports.