Well hello to all of those who are about to take 5 minutes to read this blog post.
I have decided to start a blog based on the things you see on a daily basis that make you think WTF. Since we all experience these things, sometimes multiple times a day, I figured why not share them in a way that all of us can relate to and enjoy... in a fact filled unique perspective with a little bit of sarcasm to top it off.
Now the important point about this blog which a lot of people might not consider right away is that "the things that make you think WTF" are not ALWAYS negative! (only most of the time)
And this brings me into my first blog post which is about all things IKEA.
On a daily basis I drive by one of two IKEA's located in the greater Montreal region. IKEA is owned and operated by Swedish billionaire Ingvar Kamprad... as of 2010 he is the 11th wealthiest person in the world (according to Wikipedia) with an estimated worth of 23 billion dollars. The story of this guy is incredible.... he first discovered that buying matches in bulk for nothing and selling them individually for 'a little more than nothing' was a viable business opportunity (thats a good thing because anyone who couldnt figure that out doesnt deserve to be a billionaire anyway). This endeavor continued and turned into what we all know today as the big Blue and Yellow branded enterprise known as IKEA (an acronym which means nothing to anyone as they walk through the doors only because they cant wait to get their grubby paws all over the latest IKEA designs; and not to mention catch a whiff of one of the most unique and addicting retail store smells on the planet; I personally LOVE whatever that smell is).
Now every one of us has given at least a tiny bit of thought into what we are actually buying when we are pushing that cart towards the HUGE lineups at the check-out with stacked, awkward sized cardboard boxes ready to destroy some ankles.... but what is MOST interesting is how the hell IKEA has created this brand/image of what I consider to be "consumable furniture".
Now the part that is most mind boggling is how a sea of vehicles, surrounds the IKEA building every day from sunrise to sunset. People (me included) get excited to buy "unique" but not at all unique items to fulfill IKEA's current tag line of "any space can be beautiful" (What this tag line really means is "make your place look like every other student/low to medium income/newly wed, apartment/condo/household in any greater metropolitan area"). Consumers thrive in breaking their fingers attempting to tighten every one of those 58 Allen bolts with that useless Allen key supplied with every piece of IKEA furniture available in the warehouse. Now what happens to this furniture throughout its life.... well exactly this: Within 6 months, the lack of tension created in the Allen bolt due to that crap ass Allen key everyone uses to assemble their furniture causes the bar stool, desk, lamp, bed frame, table, filing cabinet (I think you get the point) to turn into a sloppy (noisy) mess. The bolts become loose, the furniture falls apart if not maintained (most likely scenario) and people plan another trip back to IKEA (not consciously) in an attempt to have the latest contemporary look available, all without realizing their mindset when buying these things is "it'll do for the meantime until I can get some real furniture". These consumer mindsets are driven based on one reason....IKEA is so god damn cheap. Why is it cheap... I dont even need to go there.... its a bunch of laminated press board thrown into a cardboard box with very little effort also containing a page of very hazy assembly instructions (visual instructions eliminate any need for translation to all languages that the 25 different countries, IKEA has stores in, speak) I wont even take this talk about IKEA and cheap any further; other than its simply genius.
IKEA products, despite size, color (black brown dominates all others), shape, and whichever awkwardly pronounced Swedish style label they have, are nothing more than a bunch of "it'll do for now products" which the IKEA company has generated based off of buying for nothing and selling for cheap. Anyways.... there is a whole lot more to the IKEA story than that, however I figured it would be interesting to share some of the thoughts that run through my head (not necessarily in the same order you read here) everyday when I drive by; that make me think WTF.... in this case "WTF why couldnt that be me".
Cheers for now,
Cameron Mackey
I have decided to start a blog based on the things you see on a daily basis that make you think WTF. Since we all experience these things, sometimes multiple times a day, I figured why not share them in a way that all of us can relate to and enjoy... in a fact filled unique perspective with a little bit of sarcasm to top it off.
Now the important point about this blog which a lot of people might not consider right away is that "the things that make you think WTF" are not ALWAYS negative! (only most of the time)
And this brings me into my first blog post which is about all things IKEA.
On a daily basis I drive by one of two IKEA's located in the greater Montreal region. IKEA is owned and operated by Swedish billionaire Ingvar Kamprad... as of 2010 he is the 11th wealthiest person in the world (according to Wikipedia) with an estimated worth of 23 billion dollars. The story of this guy is incredible.... he first discovered that buying matches in bulk for nothing and selling them individually for 'a little more than nothing' was a viable business opportunity (thats a good thing because anyone who couldnt figure that out doesnt deserve to be a billionaire anyway). This endeavor continued and turned into what we all know today as the big Blue and Yellow branded enterprise known as IKEA (an acronym which means nothing to anyone as they walk through the doors only because they cant wait to get their grubby paws all over the latest IKEA designs; and not to mention catch a whiff of one of the most unique and addicting retail store smells on the planet; I personally LOVE whatever that smell is).
Now every one of us has given at least a tiny bit of thought into what we are actually buying when we are pushing that cart towards the HUGE lineups at the check-out with stacked, awkward sized cardboard boxes ready to destroy some ankles.... but what is MOST interesting is how the hell IKEA has created this brand/image of what I consider to be "consumable furniture".
Now the part that is most mind boggling is how a sea of vehicles, surrounds the IKEA building every day from sunrise to sunset. People (me included) get excited to buy "unique" but not at all unique items to fulfill IKEA's current tag line of "any space can be beautiful" (What this tag line really means is "make your place look like every other student/low to medium income/newly wed, apartment/condo/household in any greater metropolitan area"). Consumers thrive in breaking their fingers attempting to tighten every one of those 58 Allen bolts with that useless Allen key supplied with every piece of IKEA furniture available in the warehouse. Now what happens to this furniture throughout its life.... well exactly this: Within 6 months, the lack of tension created in the Allen bolt due to that crap ass Allen key everyone uses to assemble their furniture causes the bar stool, desk, lamp, bed frame, table, filing cabinet (I think you get the point) to turn into a sloppy (noisy) mess. The bolts become loose, the furniture falls apart if not maintained (most likely scenario) and people plan another trip back to IKEA (not consciously) in an attempt to have the latest contemporary look available, all without realizing their mindset when buying these things is "it'll do for the meantime until I can get some real furniture". These consumer mindsets are driven based on one reason....IKEA is so god damn cheap. Why is it cheap... I dont even need to go there.... its a bunch of laminated press board thrown into a cardboard box with very little effort also containing a page of very hazy assembly instructions (visual instructions eliminate any need for translation to all languages that the 25 different countries, IKEA has stores in, speak) I wont even take this talk about IKEA and cheap any further; other than its simply genius.
IKEA products, despite size, color (black brown dominates all others), shape, and whichever awkwardly pronounced Swedish style label they have, are nothing more than a bunch of "it'll do for now products" which the IKEA company has generated based off of buying for nothing and selling for cheap. Anyways.... there is a whole lot more to the IKEA story than that, however I figured it would be interesting to share some of the thoughts that run through my head (not necessarily in the same order you read here) everyday when I drive by; that make me think WTF.... in this case "WTF why couldnt that be me".
Cheers for now,
Cameron Mackey
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