IKEA turned hidden furniture labels into proof of durability, and a national treasure hunt in Portugal that soon became its most successful ad campaign.
IKEA quickly realized that there was a conversation happening and that they needed to change it: people don’t think IKEA furniture is made to last. And to help them do that, they had a secret weapon: every piece of furniture ever made by IKEA has a label that tells when it was made. Those labels are often hidden, usually placed out of sight once the item is assembled.
There it was. The idea was for IKEA to prove the long-lasting quality of its furniture by turning these hidden labels into a nationwide treasure hunt in Portugal. The rules were simple, find the label on your furniture, use the website to translate the code into the date of manufacturing and share a photo of it on social. The goal? To showcase just how long IKEA products can last.
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To boost participation, the brand turned the initiative into a contest: the person who could find the oldest IKEA item in the country would win thousands of euros in gift cards. The campaign sparked a wave of participation—over 4,573 labels were submitted, with an average furniture age of 18.5 years. The oldest verified item was a wooden table from 1969, making it 55 years old. Many pieces of furniture outdating the opening of the first IKEA store in the country!
Beyond user-generated proof of durability, the campaign reignited emotional connections to IKEA furniture. People shared personal memories tied to their pieces, reinforcing the idea that these aren’t just mass-produced items—they’re part of everyday life. Interestingly, Portuguese second-hand marketplaces began highlighting the IKEA label as a selling point, showing how the campaign influenced real consumer behavior.
In short, IKEA let its own customers, and its own furniture, do the talking. The campaign turned a simple manufacturing detail into a powerful proof point for sustainability and trust.
