Left Brain Final
IKEA’s IDAHOT (International day against homophobia, transphobia & biphobia) ad called “Be Someone’s Home” is a visually striking ad that has a strong rhetorical pathos through its imagery, language and music. It is an ad for LGBTQ+ awareness and aligning IKEA’s brand as LGBTQ positive.
This is a high involvement, feeling ad. There is no call to action or request involvement beyond the second to last shot of the commercial saying “Let’s make people of all sexual orientations and gender identities feel at home everywhere”. Because of that I think this ad has a high involvement. You feel then learn and finally do. All the while IKEA is selling their own brand. The ad makes the viewer feel something and learn about IDAHOT (For example I did not know there was a day against homophobia, transphobia and biphobia).
I think “Be Someone’s Home” creates an emotional response in the viewer because while the actors on the screen may be acting, there is a sense of vulnerability, family, love and authenticity. The commercial feels almost anthropologic at first glance, showing just people being in each shot. The ad “Be Someone’s Home” really is subtly showing furniture and decorations in each shot. Representing the “home” of the title in a much more literal sense.
The Strategy
“Advertising will appeal to right-brain thinkers because of the no-frill facts and direct messaging. Support will be the laid-out facts and hierarchical reasoning. The tone of the advertisement will be factual and triumphant”
Development Process
For this rewrite of the original ad, I tried to appeal to analytical thinkers. Rather than rely on emotional rhetoric and human connection, I used facts about the importance of May 17th and why IDAHOT is significant.
I chose to keep some of the copy from the original ad to create a sense of cohesion between the two versions of the ad.
I used color contrast to emphasize the important parts of the messaging. The background is the traditional Swedish blue and yellow that are IKEA’s brand colors but I thought a gradient would fit the message better than the regular color blocked logo the company uses.
