Fans of Ikea... ever considered moving in??

[ephemery1]

I have a really random, crazy friend from high school who makes his living doing random, crazy things as a filmmaker/comedian in New York City. A few months ago he got a ton of publicity for visiting every Starbucks in Manhattan (171 total) within 24 hours. Currently, he is living in Ikea for a week and capturing the experience on film: http://www.marklivesinikea.com/

The premise is that his apartment was being fumigated and he couldn't afford a hotel, and he figured 80% of his apartment is made up of Ikea anyway, so he may as well move in there for the week. I can't BELIEVE Ikea was willing to let him do it, but they've given him free reign.... anyway, some of the videos are amusing, so I just thought I'd share!

Warning: My best friend (also from high school) and I are very intrigued by Mark's recent popularity.... since he tends to walk a fine line between genuinely funny and just plain weird. But we've been watching his videos ever since our high school variety show in 9th grade, so he makes us laugh, anyway!

 

[sumbride]

That''s freakin AWESOME!!! I can believe IKEA would let him do it... it''s major viral marketing for them! And so fun! Thanks for sharing! I''m still laughing!!

 

[ephemery1]

Date: 1/10/2008 10:31:38 PM
Author: sumbride
That's freakin AWESOME!!! I can believe IKEA would let him do it... it's major viral marketing for them! And so fun! Thanks for sharing! I'm still laughing!!

Haha... glad you enjoyed it!! You're totally right about the viral marketing... Starbucks was actually pretty happy with the whole 171-stores-in-24-hours thing, too!

For anyone else checking out the website, the video entitled "Day 1: First Night" starring Jarvis the Security Guard cracked me up.

 

[iheartscience]

That is amazing! I love Ikea!

 

[UCLABelle]

I LOVE Ikea...and heck, may move in Have you ever tried their meatballs?

 

[mintve]

how fun! its like that book/movie where the girl lived in wal-mart!

i love ikea! everytime i visit it makes me miss living in the UK and being in europe.

 

[Kaleigh]

Made me laugh, what a riot!!

 

[Sparkalicious]

What a crazy idea!

That is so funny ... Thanks for sharing!

 

[somethingshiny]

That''s crazy!

I''ve never been to an IKEA before, I didn''t realize it was so "warehousey".

 

[Elmorton]

LOL - I started laughing just when I saw your subject line, but the concept of really moving in - EVEN FUNNIER! Rrrrrrg, I''m still having issues (Firefox is not acting kind) watching the video, though.

When I studied abroad, a friend of mine lived in an apartment that was 100% Ikea, down to the forks and knives. It was fabulously cool but I kinda wondered if we were going to go crazy like in Fight Club. Thought maybe that''s where you were going with it when I saw the initial post.

Somethingshiny - I last about 20 minutes in Ikea before I''m like "WE NEED TO LEAVE - NOW." It''s not easy on people like me who have no attention span - it''s totally sensory overload. It''s very warehousy, and unless you''re buying something really small, all the items are basically in showcases have little numbers next to their product name. You write down the numbers and then go find it in the basement. I had no idea that was how it worked until literally my 3rd visit. I would get so confused and decide that I didn''t need anything!

 

[marvel]

That is a great video. Did you come up with all the lines himself? He''ll be discovered one day.

 

[musey]

Haha I saw this on the news a few days ago! What a small world, that one of his friends would be a PSer. I hope he has a lot of fun doing it!

 

[Kaleigh]

He was on Inside Edition today!!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

He is so funny! I can''t wait until he updates it with the other days.

 

[CrownJewel]

Haha...this is really funny. I just sent it out to a bunch of my friends. Thanks for letting us know ephem!

 

[ephemery1]

Yay!! I''m so glad you guys think it''s fun too.

Kaleigh, I keep missing him on all the news shows... I wish I''d seen that! He is definitely a goofball, but there is usually so much negativity on the news, that it makes me really appreciate when random silly things like this get mixed in.

My friend went up to NYC this afternoon, so she stopped in to visit Mark at Ikea. When she got there, she said he was just hanging out on a couch, talking on his cell phone, with his stuff EVERYWHERE... like he really has moved in permanently... hehe. He was excited to see her and immediately took her to the cafe for some Swedish meatballs.

(UCLABelle, I love those meatballs!! My friend and I will sometimes go to Ikea just to have them.... is that weird??

)

 

[zoebartlett]

We''re not in the area where this is happening but the story made it to our local news last night and this morning. How fun that you''re friends with him. What a fun story!