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What…in the world is going on with IKEA’s Pride couches?

WORDS Ella Jane    PHOTOGRAPHY Courtesy Instagram    PUBLISHED Wed, 30 Jun 2021 - 1:45 pm

IKEA Pride

IKEA's PR team is certainly going through a chaotic patch right now. For a brand that usually tends to mind its own business, there is no denying the Swedish furniture brand has stirred the pot of late. From its decision to serve fried chicken and watermelon to "honour" Juneteenth - a sentiment that landed very poorly with IKEA's employees and generally everyone, causing over 20 staff members to strike in protest of the tone deaf menu adjustment. To now, post-apology, they have plans in mind to celebrate Pride, big plans - involving a range of Pride-themed couches that have left us truly rattled.

IKEA announced its new Pride couches on Tuesday, a collection of love seats each representing the different flags within the LGBTQIA+ community . It was launched with an accompanying campaign video of LGBTQIA+ folks sharing personal stories about how they identify, and the sentiment of pride - a sweet moment amid a rather wild reaction from the online LGBTQIA+ community.

Built off the back of the quote, "There's more to Pride than a rainbow", there are 10 couches in total, each a unique expression of the identities they are based on - designed by three cis queer women and one straight man who identifies as an ally. The flags the collection is built around, include the non-binary flag, the transgender flag, the progress flag, the bisexual flag, the asexual flag, the lesbian flag, and more. It sure is expansive!

As far as the designs go, this is where IKEA lost the Internet. The most confusing couch in question, is without a doubt the bisexual flag. A pink, blue and purple situation covered in fabric hands, alongside a few rogue plastic hands thrown in there as...a treat? Whoever designed this woke up one day and made the choice to wreak havoc upon us. But the hands are not all! The accompanying message on the back cushions read "When you change or to and nobody believes you." Which is certainly saying...something?

As for the rest of the designs, the transgender flag couch is actually just a cute, cosy persons dream - a pale blue, pink and white love seat with plush clouds and a tonal rainbow fastened to it. Unsure how assembly would go with that one, but would sit on regardless. The non-binary flag couch feels kinky as hell. A grey love seat with purple, yellow, black and white straps secured with silver o-rings. The progress flag couch, covered in plastic rainbow coloured flowers also looks like a real doozy to assemble and not the best place to nap, but props for looking quite beautiful.

We have endless questions, but for now, we're letting the incomparable humour of the very-online LGBTQIA+ community take it away via Twitter with our favourite reactions, below.

 

 

 

 

 

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