PM Lee urges babymaking, IKEA cheekily complies in Vday ad

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IKEA is taking Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's Chinese New Year call for young Singaporeans to boost birth rates by welcoming "a little dragon" into their homes to the next level with a new ad complying with the request.

Promoting its new year duvet and pillowcase sets, the ads cheekily say, "It's getting Huat in here" and "Unleash your Dragon". Below the ads, IKEA wishes customers a "Happy Valentine's Night".

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The ad comes shortly after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's Chinese New Year message which saw him imploring young couples to have more babies.

"Many Chinese families consider a child born in the year of the dragon to be especially auspicious, the dragon being a symbol of power, strength, and good fortune. So now is as good a time as any for young couples to add a “little dragon” to your family," said PM Lee.

"I hope my encouragement prompts more couples to try for a baby, although I know that the decision is a very personal one," he added.

He noted that the Government will continue to support marriage and parenthood aspirations with measures such as the doubling of government-paid paternity leave and increasing support for infant caregiving and work-life harmony which has progressively been strengthened.

"Ultimately, couples will decide whether to have children for their own reasons. I hope more will decide to go ahead, and I am confident they will find parenthood a deeply rewarding and fulfilling journey," he said.

The cheeky IKEA ad in response to the message was done by The Secret Little Agency which was appointed as IKEA Singapore's creative agency of record in October last year. It is also part of a larger Chinese New Year campaign for IKEA.

“This was no ordinary Valentine's Day. It fell on the fifth day of our lunar new year celebrations, so it’s fair to say we felt a national calling to point this out to all Singaporeans especially those looking to make their very own baby dragon during this auspicious time,” said a spokesperson from The Secret Little Agency to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

The Secret Little Agency won IKEA Singapore's account last year from TBWA after a pitch. As a result, it now handles all integrated campaigns, marketing strategy, product campaigns, digital and social communications development, and more, it said in a statement at the time.

The Secret Little Agency has been working hard this Chinese New Year to put out creative ads and activations. Last week, the agency worked with Asian bank DBS to release alimited-edition fragrance inspired by the scent of fresh banknotes, designed to spread ‘HUAT’ or good fortune and prosperity during the new year.

HUAT Eau De Parfum aims to encapsulate the scent of prosperity, and good fortune during Chinese New Year and was inspired by feedback from some customers who cited the absence of the scent of money as a reason for not switching to digital gifting, according to Lim Bee Bee, head of marketing, consumer banking group (Singapore), DBS Bank.

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