IKEA is 'proudly second best' as kids pick parents over its cot, stool and chair

Most furniture advertising argues that the product is the best thing a parent can buy. Al-Futtaim IKEA, which runs IKEA in the UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Oman, argued the opposite: that no cot, high chair or stool can ever beat a parent, and that IKEA is proud to come second. The campaign, made by DAVID Madrid with INGO Hamburg, turned that admission into its entire message.

Each of the three short films starts like a catalogue page — an ANTILOP highchair, a BOLMEN step stool or a SMÅGÖRA cot presented with its name and price. Seconds later the camera widens and shows the real scene: a child eating lunch on his father's lap, a girl sleeping in her mother's arms, or a toddler standing on a parent's legs to reach the sink. The furniture stands nearby, unused, as the line 'Proudly Second Best' appears.

Marketing director Carla Klumpenaar said the idea came from the brand's own humility: parents are the first choice for their children, and IKEA is genuinely proud of that. The films were released on IKEA's YouTube channels across the Gulf in spring 2023 and shared widely by parents and industry observers, who praised the campaign for trusting one quiet idea instead of layering on gimmicks.

The three child-furniture films each won a Gold Film Lion at Cannes 2023, with a further Silver for the campaign film. Experts later cited the work as one of the year's best video ads precisely because it focused on human relationships rather than products.