IKEA, the Sweden-based furniture giant, agreed Dec. 22 to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit over deaths that occurred when its dressers tipped over. IKEA had at first provided free wall-anchoring kits for the dressers after two child deaths in 2014, then recalled the dressers after a third death this year.
News of that recall, in June, was accompanied by video of an announcement from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that included a sobering demonstration (involving toddler-size dummies) of the danger of IKEA's products. With news of the settlement, that video is now making the rounds anew.
It's a significant black eye for the brand going into the holidays; one wonders, then, if another bit of unrelated news was carefully timed to divert the conversation to something a bit more lighthearted. A spokesperson emphasized to the BBC Dec. 21 that IKEA strongly disapproves of people having illicit sleepover adventures in its stores. This is in response to 10 or so such incidents that occurred worldwide in 2016, apparently spurred by a viral video made by two young Belgian men that has been watched nearly 2 million times on YouTube:
The IKEA UK spokesperson's quote to the BBC was, "We appreciate that people are interested in IKEA and want to create fun experiences. However, the safety and security of our co-workers and customers is our highest priority and that's why we do not allow sleepovers in our stores."
If the timing is a coincidence, it's a happy one: IKEA simultaneously gets to put on a stern face—wagging its finger in the interest of safety—and call attention to a trend that makes it look cool and exciting.
Both stories are competing for space in major outlets, significantly watering down the impact of the most negative coverage IKEA is receiving. As far as smoothing over a crisis goes, it's a neat trick to learn: Tell those rascally YouTube stars they'd better not go around having mildly transgressive fun with your brand name, or else!
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