IKEA Singapore stretched everything extra long for its 45th — even the $1 hotdog

Mark 45 years of IKEA in Singapore with in-store activations from 27 April to 1 May 2023 across all three outlets, created by TBWA\Singapore with media by PHD Singapore.

Make everything longer: an extra-long iconic IKEA pencil, a 12-inch SG$1 hotdog, and long-themed activations — the brand's cheapest icons, stretched.

Collectable extra-long IKEA pencils for store visitors; a 12-inch hotdog at SG$1 in every Swedish bistro; long-themed social activations; and limited-edition IKEA socks (mystery pairs) for customers spending at least SG$90.

The Swedish bistros 'have seen long lines since the hotdogs launched' as eager customers queued to try the extra-large snack; the pencil giveaway ran as a five-day collectable drop.

For its 45th anniversary in Singapore, IKEA launched an extra-long version of its iconic free pencil — 'a nod to fans who have supported the brand over the many years,' said TBWA\Singapore executive creative director Asheen Naidu. From 27 April to 1 May 2023, store visitors could go home with the collectable long pencil, alongside long-themed social activations and in-store executions across all three outlets.

The other long joke was edible: a 12-inch hotdog priced at SG$1, sold in the Swedish bistros of all three IKEA stores — and the bistros 'have seen long lines since the hotdogs launched with many eager to try an extra-large version of everyone's favourite post-shopping snack.' Customers spending at least SG$90 also received a mystery pair of limited-edition IKEA socks.

The anniversary lean into the brand's cheapest, most-memed artifacts — the pencil and the bistro hotdog — needed no new product line, just one extra dimension.

The IKEA pencil and the bistro hotdog are the two objects every Singaporean associate with the store; stretching them made the anniversary legible instantly.

The SG$1 price point kept the stunt true to the brand's mass-market DNA while the 12-inch twist made it filmable and queue-worthy.

A five-day window and a collectable gave the giveaway scarcity without paid media.

Anniversary marketing lands when it exaggerates an artifact customers already touch — the free pencil and the cheap hotdog were the brand's real memories, just longer.

The activation closed on 1 May 2023; the anniversary news ran alongside IKEA's global sustainability report coverage in the same week, with the long-pencil reel circulating on Instagram.