When you watch an Ikea ad, you can generally expect one of two groups to be the target: One, style-conscious twenty-somethings looking to furnish their cramped apartment on a dime; or two, busy young families that need their coffee table to double as toy storage and a mobile workstation.
"Teddy's Speech," a spot from Ikea Australia's "Make Time for Living" campaign, fits squarely in the second category. Like so many other family-oriented Ikea ads, it stars a precocious-but-not-cutesy child (the titular Teddy, in this case), but rather than using Teddy to show how much easier life can be with the proper Ikea furnishings, the two-minute spot barely focuses on the store's offerings at all. Instead, it revolves around a simple message: Your home isn't just a place for catching up on emails or stopping by between appointments. It's a place for living.
That's a noble sentiment in an age when getting the family together for a meal can seem impossible. Unfortunately, the execution of the spot—by ad agency The Monkeys—leaves the viewer as exhausted as a 12-year-old with a dozen after-school activities.
As Teddy gives his speech, the camera follows him on a brisk walk around his underused home. Or is it homes? Every time he rounds a corner, we seem to have entered a new house, but the brisk pace makes it hard to tell. Poor Teddy can barely keep up himself. He looks (and sounds) perpetually out of breath as he enters room after room.
Presumably, there's a point behind the disordered visuals of "Teddy's Speech." Perhaps it's meant to mirror the hectic schedule of the modern family, never stopping to sit down and take a breather. But the spot ends up keeping viewers too busy trying to get their bearings to appreciate the message.
CREDITS
Client: Ikea Australia
Agency: The Monkeys
Film Production: Revolver
Director: Matt Devine, The Glue Society
Post: The Editors
Sound: Nylon
Content Production Company: Will O'Rourke
Director: Richard Bullock
Photography: Michael Corridore, Carine Thevenau, Jeremy Shaw
Media Agency: Match Media
Communication Director: Nick Wokes
Communications Manager: Mark Echo
Communications Manager: Russell Dowse
Online Content Hub Agency: Lavender
Client Services Director: Gayle While
PR Agency: Mango
GM: Claire Salvetti
Account Director: Ella Tacchi