Yes, we too have just done a spit-take of coffee all over our laptops. No, this is not some very early or terribly delayed April Fool’s Day prank by our beloved purveyor of Swedish home goods, cinnamon buns and tasty cheap meatballs. IKEA really has made its first pregnancy test—and it could be coming to a newsstand near you. Not only that, it’s basically a free pregnancy test for what you would pay to get it and it’ll save you money on your big nursery shopping trip to IKEA, too.
We know, right?!
So, here’s the lowdown on IKEA’s Ürinstik—ha ha, just kidding. Sadly no, that’s not what it’s called and it’s not something you can actually buy in an IKEA store—but it is a real, honest-to-goodness pregnancy test from IKEA.
AdWeek explains how Åkestam Holst, an award-winning Swedish advertising agency, came up with a positive-ly (sorry) brilliant way to advertise IKEA’s handsome Sundvik cribs. The IKEA pregnancy test actually comes as full-page magazine ad, created in collaboration with Mercene Labs. On part of the printed page, a specially-printed strip can detect the presence of hCG (the pregnancy hormone that pregnancy tests look for).
Here’s where it gets ridiculous. Instead of showing two pink lines or a plus or a minus sign, positive pregnancy test results reveal themselves as a discounted price on the Sundvik crib. You can see this amazing feat of modern printing and science in the ad agency’s video below:
No word on whether or not the ad will appear in U.S. magazines, but it’s highly doubtful, what with that whole “Food and Drug Administration” thing. But presumably, hopeful Swedish parents-to-be can flip through the pages of their favorite magazine, pop a squat and save a pretty krona on their first crib purchase at IKEA.
WHAT 👏 A 👏 TIME 👏 TO 👏 BE 👏 ALIVE.
Would you pee on a magazine page if it meant saving a couple of hundred bucks on a piece of IKEA furniture? Discuss.
—Keiko Zoll
