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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/10/ikea-invites-customers-to-pee-on-this-ad-to-check-for-pregnancy-and-a-crib-deal
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Ikea invites customers to 'pee on this ad' to check for pregnancy – and a crib deal | Ikea invites customers to 'pee on this ad' to check for pregnancy – and a crib deal |
| (25 days later) | |
| Ikea, the Swedish homeware giant, has come up with a novel way to get would-be parents streaming through the doors to the company’s cavernous outlets – a magazine advert for baby cribs that doubles as a pregnancy test. | Ikea, the Swedish homeware giant, has come up with a novel way to get would-be parents streaming through the doors to the company’s cavernous outlets – a magazine advert for baby cribs that doubles as a pregnancy test. |
| Ikea is encouraging the possibly pregnant to pee on the ad in its latest catalogue, the paper of which contains similar technology to a pregnancy test. If the test is positive, then the ad reveals a special discounted price on cribs. | Ikea is encouraging the possibly pregnant to pee on the ad in its latest catalogue, the paper of which contains similar technology to a pregnancy test. If the test is positive, then the ad reveals a special discounted price on cribs. |
| Ikea wants you to pee on this ad and if you’re pregnant, it'll give you a discount on a crib https://t.co/MjuUiQSkZz pic.twitter.com/wAMXt8IdkJ | Ikea wants you to pee on this ad and if you’re pregnant, it'll give you a discount on a crib https://t.co/MjuUiQSkZz pic.twitter.com/wAMXt8IdkJ |
| The marketing innovation by the Swedish agency Åkestam Holst, which has been running the ad in the country’s popular Amelia magazine, was first reported by AdWeek. | The marketing innovation by the Swedish agency Åkestam Holst, which has been running the ad in the country’s popular Amelia magazine, was first reported by AdWeek. |
| Mercene Labs, which helped create the ad, explained it had used the pregnancy test strip as a starting point and used the same technology to detect antibodies that bind to the pregnancy hormone hCG, resulting in a color change. “Technical advancements made during the work with this campaign have the potential to improve medical diagnostics,” the lab claimed. | Mercene Labs, which helped create the ad, explained it had used the pregnancy test strip as a starting point and used the same technology to detect antibodies that bind to the pregnancy hormone hCG, resulting in a color change. “Technical advancements made during the work with this campaign have the potential to improve medical diagnostics,” the lab claimed. |
| Åkestam Holst and Ikea have received attention in the past for their advertisements. Their 2016 ad for the furniture company was commended for featuring a divorced couple – normally a taboo subject for ad agencies. | Åkestam Holst and Ikea have received attention in the past for their advertisements. Their 2016 ad for the furniture company was commended for featuring a divorced couple – normally a taboo subject for ad agencies. |
| Nor is Ikea the first company to use urination in product promotion. Adweek called the crib ad “definitely the coolest pee-based advertising since 2001 when Animal Planet put urine-scented ads at the bottom of lampposts to attract dogs (whose owners then saw a larger ad at their own eye level promoting a dog award show)”. | Nor is Ikea the first company to use urination in product promotion. Adweek called the crib ad “definitely the coolest pee-based advertising since 2001 when Animal Planet put urine-scented ads at the bottom of lampposts to attract dogs (whose owners then saw a larger ad at their own eye level promoting a dog award show)”. |
| Others in the genre include Captive Media’s urine-controlled gaming systems for urinals and Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater’s protest against Texas’s anti-trans bathroom bill titled “I Pee With LGBT”. | Others in the genre include Captive Media’s urine-controlled gaming systems for urinals and Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater’s protest against Texas’s anti-trans bathroom bill titled “I Pee With LGBT”. |