Could IKEA鈥檚 toilet brush inspire your next vacation? Visit Sweden hopes so
Dec 10, 2021 鈥 2 min read
The real meaning behind every item IKEA's borrowed a name for will take you on a journey throughout Sweden 漏 Cody Duncan / Getty
Google "J盲rvfj盲llet" and you鈥檒l get pages of results for IKEA鈥檚 gaming chair; "Ektorp" will bring you to IKEA sofas; now try 鈥淏olmen鈥 and you鈥檒l find the retailer鈥檚 $.99 toilet bowl brush. Scroll a bit further and you'll realize all of those product names are also actual places in Sweden.
Now, a creative new tourism campaign from Visit Sweden hopes to reclaim some of those somewhat familiar products and connect travelers with those very real namesakes to inspire a trip to explore the Nordic country.
In a new campaign called 鈥淒iscover the Originals," Visit Sweden profiles 21 actual Swedish lakes, towns and villages from which the IKEA products took their names. The spirit of the campaign is light. Nils Persson, chief marketing officer for Visit Sweden, said Sweden is very proud of how IKEA made the borrowed names world famous.
鈥淣ow we want, with warmth and a twinkle in our eye, to show the originals behind the product names and invite the world to discover the whole of Sweden,鈥 Persson said.
To underscore the levity of the campaign, Visit Sweden has already released a promoting it.
Places in Sweden that became popular IKEA product names
Plotting your visit to some of you recognize might be as challenging as following one of IKEA's instruction manuals since most Google searches will turn up the IKEA product first.
To help discover 鈥 and reclaim 鈥 these names Visit Sweden has put together a list of 21 of those to help you in your trip planning. Here are some of the ones you might have in your own home and the destinations they represent:
Far from IKEA鈥檚 gaming chair, J盲rvfj盲llet is a town in Lappland that Visit Sweden says doesn鈥檛 have a 5G tower insight and is a great destination for hiking and camping.
Far from the toilet brush, Bolmen is a large freshwater lake with 鈥渨ater so clean you can drink from it鈥 according to Visit Sweden.
Ektorp might be in your living room, but the town for which the sofa is named is located on the Baltic Sea and boasts a nature reserve.
You might need a bath towel to travel to Himle氓n in western Sweden, where you can swim, paddle or birdwatch.
You might also like:
11 Swedish hiking trails you won't want to miss
Sweden's most stunning national parks: from Lapland to lowlands
Do I need a visa to visit Sweden?
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