Last year, the noted Kanye West non-collaborators over at IKEA encouraged us to pay attention to each other while eating, instead of fussing over our phones. The point of their phone-powered-hotplate was to force us to talk to the people eating with us, instead of broadcasting our food choices to the whole wide world.
Now, IKEA has dropped a new commercial that hits a similar theme. It’s a satirical take on those of us who insist on snapping a picture before we eat. Of course, there is some science to back up the notion that the ritual of immortalizing your food online has a positive effect on flavor — but the piece is funny as hell nonetheless.
The ad sets an approval seeking father in the 18th century. Instead of a handy smart phone, a painter is brought in to render the meal on canvas. We’ve all had that friend who has taken a little too long to take the perfect shot — here the joke is taken further. The premise spirals outward with a race against time to get “likes” while the poor family awaits their meal. Finally, IKEA says, “Let’s relax.” But how can we relax until we know that dude we met at a bar in New Orleans five years ago likes our dinner? It’s a conundrum for the modern age!
Still, it’s easy to see that the company that managed to confound the very clever Ryan Reynolds doesn’t just want to decorate our homes, they want us to actually use those homes as places to connect too.
(Via YouTube)
