Ikea's first ever Christmas advert, titled 'Silence The Critics', aims to encourage people to defy 'home shame' when hosting guests this festive season.
Ikea's Christmas advert deliberately goes against the tide of sentimental Christmas ads, and aims to 'delight audiences with its humorous, irreverent take on festive hosting'. But has the Swedish furniture retailer succeeded?
The advert sets the scene with a family of three living in a small flat. The woman’s phone pings and it's a message from her friend, confirming that they're still on for dinner at her home tonight. Racked with 'home shame', she hesitates before replying, looking around at the state of the flat.
Suddenly, a whole host of inanimate ornaments and objects come to life, from lucky cats to novelty teapots. Performing to an original grime track voiced by D Double E, these objects start to taunt the family about the state of their home.
As the house is ridiculed, from the tired furnishings and cracked walls to the lack of space, the couple decide to take action to Silence the Critics once and for all by sprucing up their abode with some Ikea furnishings – replacing an outdated mirror, giving the old sofa a new lease of life with a new cover and hanging a framed print over the crack in the wall.
'Our first Ikea Christmas advert focuses on the phenomenon of "home shame" – encouraging people to overcome the negative voices in their head holding them back from opening up their homes.
'It was born from the common feeling, that along with the seasonal joys, a lot of us feel a looming sense of dread when it comes to hosting others with many of us feel ashamed of our homes over the Christmas period.
'We believe that every home can and should be worthy of a get-together and that with a little imagination, some clever products and ideas, there’s no reason not to be proud to invite your nearest and dearest over. This campaign aims to inspire us all to get our homes party-ready and "Silence the Critics", once and for all.'
To tie in with the Christmas campaign, Ikea is hosting a series of in-store events showing customers how easy it is to get their home party-ready, from virtual reality makeovers to ‘Christmas Treetorials’ and hosting hacks.
Take a look at all the Christmas adverts as they are released here.
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18 of the best small Christmas trees — and they're all under £40
This tiny yet glamorous tree from Bloom & Wild is ideal for small spaces (and office desks). With a 12cm pop-up navy pot, each tree comes with a gold star topper, a star and moon garland, mini baubles, star decorations, and lights. Christmas done easy.
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Compact enough to fit on top of a coffee table, this small Christmas tree from Homebase has snow-flocked branches and a rustic burlap-wrapped base. And, at just £12 (it's on sale, be quick!), you can deck the halls without breaking the bank.
Here's a simple tree to decorate your desk, console table, or even your kitchen island, but be quick, it's selling fast. The colourful baubles pictured are not included, but you can buy the mini set here.
With frosted tips and a light wooden base, this mini Christmas tree wouldn't look out of place in rooms with a Nordic or Scandinavian scheme.
Currently on sale, this 3ft tree features 40 static warm white LED bulbs, and it has a handy timer function too. Keep it pared-back with the lights or add some baubles for an extra festive touch.
This mini spruce Christmas tree, which is available to order now, is perfect for both indoor and outdoor use. Simply adorn with your favourite decorations and enjoy. Once Christmas is over, it can be be planted out in the garden.
Looking for a lovely pre-lit twig tree? Standing at just 65cm tall, this snowy battery-powered tree is the ultimate table centrepiece, and could even manage some extra, lightweight paper Christmas decorations.
READ MORE: 13 beautiful twig Christmas trees to buy now
This letterbox Christmas tree from Arena Flowers is proof that some of the best things really do come in small packages. Featuring glass baubles, a silver topper, a foldable red pot and twinkling lights, it's the ultimate hassle-free tree for every home.
Give your home a festive glow-up with this small Christmas tree. Adorned with glistening lights, it's a magical addition to any windowsill.
This mini Christmas tree, complete with a zinc pot, is perfect for creating the ultimate winter wonderland at home. Standing at just 43cm tall, it has real-looking branches that have been designed to mimic trees growing outside.
This mini tree would look effective when placed on your window ledge any time of the year. At Christmas, wrap a few wire string lights around it for a festive glow, and add some white Christmas decorations for a really special display.
It doesn't get much smaller than these adorable tabletop Christmas trees – which we suppose are technically ornaments, but we're going with it. This sweet set of five mini trees would make for an excellent, low-effort display almost anywhere in your home, be it your hallway console table or a windowsill.
We love the pared-back, minimalist feel of this Christmas tree which would fit perfectly in modern and traditional homes alike. Plus, the gold star patterned pot certainly gives it a fun finish!
Get 15 per cent off with code TINSEL at the checkout.
Keep things simple with this sleek pre-lit mini tree which stands at 2.5ft tall, making it an ideal way to decorate your fireplace, or perhaps a back door. It's also got 30 LED lights, which are battery powered, so it can go (almost) anywhere you like.
Festooned with wintery red berries and with snow-flecked branches, this small Christmas tree is ideal for those who want a more traditional look this December. It's perhaps a little bigger than most on this list, so it may not work for a coffee table or windowsill. Try it on a hallway table, or a larger console table instead.
It can be tricky to add any decor to a small Christmas tree thanks to their shorter branches, so if you want one that comes pre-decorated and ready to go, look no further. This 2ft Christow pick has everything you need already included, including faux pine cones, berries and snowy branches, as well as a rustic burlap sack.
Create your own at-home winter wonderland with this snow-covered small Christmas tree, which is ideal for smaller areas, be it a bookshelf or a windowsill. There are 20 warm white lights on this tree, and it comes in a rustic burlap sack. This one is for indoor use only.
We love the woven basket that accompanies this 1.5ft Christmas tree with battery-operated fairy lights. A mini take on The White Company's classic Symons Christmas tree, you can display this miniature version on a coffee table, windowsill, or mantelpiece for maximum impact.
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Olivia Heath is the Daily Editor at House Beautiful. Heading up all things digital, Olivia loves nothing more than uncovering tomorrow's biggest design trends and revealing the best tips and tricks to help you decorate your home like an interior designer. Week by week Olivia shares the most stylish high street buys to help you get the look for less (while compiling her very own, and rather lengthy, homeware lust list) and showcases the best makeovers (who doesn't love a before & after?), as well as the hottest and most unique properties on the market.
Prior to making the switch to interiors on House Beautiful, Olivia worked at Reveal magazine, where she reported on celebrity and entertainment news by day, and attended showbiz parties and red carpet events by night! Olivia has an MA in Journalism with an NCTJ qualification, as well as a BA in Journalism and Media & Cultural Studies.
