Sunday, August 17, 2008

Ikea Celebrates Multicultural Sweden

“Long Live the Multiculture!”

From The Local (image courtesy of Steen):

Ikea catalogue celebrates Swedish diversity

Long live the Multiculture!Flat-pack furniture giant Ikea launched its new catalogue on Thursday amid much coverage in the Swedish national press.

Each August, the arrival of the new Ikea catalogue is eagerly awaited in Sweden, and has become something of a national event. The catalogue is printed 198 million times and published all over the world, but Swedes really look forward to what must be one of the country’s most well-thumbed publications.

This year’s the catalogue’s theme is diversity — ‘mångfald’ — with Ikea claiming to offer even more living and interior solutions for the diverse way we live today.
- - - - - - - - -
In a press statement, Jeanette Söderberg, CEO for Ikea Sweden explained the thought behind the new catalogue’s diversity message.

“We are all different. We have different lifestyles, different tastes and different living situations. The diversity around us today isn’t just good, it is fantastic, giving more creativity and new points of view regarding our existence”, she said.

One could say that Ikea embodies today’s Swedish diversity — and conformity. The company’s employees in Sweden alone speak 44 different languages. At the same time, there is hardly a Swede in Sweden who does not own furniture from Ikea.


Hat tip: TB.

12 comments:

blogagog said...

Where is my ikea prayer rug and ikea mecca finder?

Diamed said...

"The diversity around us today isn’t just good, it is fantastic, giving more creativity and new points of view regarding our existence"

Evidence to back up these claims? History shows that the most creative people in the world were whites, who, interestingly enough, created around 90% of human accomplishment. You know, all those new inventions, discoveries, theories, works of art, and all that original, groundbreaking stuff. Perhaps the diverse crowd was at the vanguard of creative new cannibal techniques and self-mutilation though, who am I to argue.

talnik said...

Diamed:
"History shows that the most creative people in the world were whites, who, interestingly enough, created around 90% of human accomplishment."
Yeah, maybe. But they can't dance.

Decatur said...

"...more ... points of view regarding our existence".
Just take a look at those words when they stand alone. It sounds to me as if this woman is talking about religion. All of a sudden religion is taking an important role in the life of Sweden's Leftists? And what religion would that be I wonder?

Afonso Henriques said...

"Yeah, maybe. But they can't dance."

Try Latin America.

talnik said...

Afonso, I was told in the '80's-- in no uncertain terms--that people from Latin America weren't white.

ɱØяñιηg$ʇðя ©™ said...

It's a shame for all of Sweden that Ikea bends over for muslims like this. Being swedish myself I suggest boycott of Ikea-furniture.

Anonymous Infidel said...

Robin Shadowes:

That's a good idea.
It most likely won't be implemented, but a good idea nonetheless.

By the way, how passive is the average Swede regarding Muslims?

Diamed said...

There are many whites in south america: argentina, parts of brazil, chile, and uruguay. Costa Rica from central america is also white.

Hispanics aren't white, they're indian/black/white crossbreeds and are the ideal liberals wish to turn america into. Their poverty, crime, spousal abuse, and every other statistic show they are hardly ideal. Their olympic medals are woefully small, their nobel prizes even smaller. I'm sorry if I don't care much about dancing, but I feel whites having tons of folk dance traditions, ball room dancing, and ballet, we'll somehow be okay on our own. For tens of thousands of years all those village boys and girls dancing around the maypole did not stop and think to themselves: "Alas, without the diverse rhythmic jiving of blacks, our lives are simply meaningless, we need the fantastic creativity of their beat or we simply cannot enjoy our own traditions any more!"

Hesperado said...

Ikea isn't just a Scandinavian thing: it's part of the cultural complex of the Politically Correct Multi-Culturalists in America (and probably, in one form or another, Canada and Europe) -- you know, the Ikea-ordering, Whole-Foods-shopping, Birkenstock-wearing, Tully's-soy-latte-drinking, NPR-listening, health-food-eating, Charlie-Rose-watching idiots who form a major part of our most active and productive members of society.

thll said...

Ikea is the furniture equivalent of Benneton... although I don't recall hearing much about Benneton lately, is it still operational? It would be nice to know if it's on the slide. Benneton had a similar advertising line to Ikea, and I'd like to see both go to the wall - alongside the purveyors of their odious creed.

Anonymous said...

The American IKEA catalog I recently got in the mail (unsolicited by me) was understated and didn't have any particular multicultural message. The cover was of some merchandise, and the only people in the whole catalog were the advertising staff. The slogan on the front of the catalog (from memory) was something like, Home is the most important place. I found the catalog to be completely inoffensive and apolitical. I guess the local IKEA doesn't feel empowered enough to insult the people who actually shop there...although, if Obama is elected, our next IKEA catalog will look like the Swedish one.