IKEA Solves Household Clutter And Discord With Emoticon App

Branded apps are all the rage. Last week, Ray-Ban released a photo app called Reflections which allows for a photo to be taken from the front and back camera simultaneously and then to be combined with filters and other effects.

This week, furniture brand IKEA, working with Kindling Digital, is out with an app, called Emoticons, for iPhone and Android. The app, which adds a keyboard of emoticons that can be added to texts and other messages, is said to be designed to improve communication at home which, according to the brand, is usually caused by clutter which, in turn, causes arguments to ensue.

The app’s emoticons, which must be cut and pasted into a message instead of just tapping on them like a regular emoji keyboard, take the form of household items — many available at IKEA, of course — which when put to use can solve clutter issues and the aforementioned discord.

To promote the app, IKEA worked with LEMZ to create an explainer video which takes the viewer through a history of household discord, how typical human communication can’t solve the problem and how IKEA’s app can rescue the day.

Since launch on February 4, the video has achieved 380,ooo views on YouTube. Last year, the brand spoofed the iPhone with a cheeky video introducing the “bookbook.” It was a tongue and cheek promotion for the brand’s regular print catalog. That video achieved 16.5 million views.