Google "Järvfjället" and you’ll get pages of results for IKEA’s gaming chair; "Ektorp" will bring you to IKEA sofas; now try “Bolmen” and you’ll find the retailer’s $.99 toilet bowl brush. Scroll a bit further and you'll realize all of those product names are also actual places in Sweden.

  • placement: fullWidth
  • path: articles/in-content-top
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "sweden-tourism-campaign-reclaims-ikea-names"
}

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.

Ikea Boxes at the top of Car, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey
A trip to IKEA can be inspiring for your house, now let it inspire you to travel © tunart / Getty

In a new campaign called “Discover 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.

  • placement: fullWidth
  • path: articles/in-content-middle
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "sweden-tourism-campaign-reclaims-ikea-names"
}

“Now 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,” Persson said.

To underscore the levity of the campaign, Visit Sweden has already released a quirky video promoting it.

9 best road trips in Sweden

  • placement: native
  • path: articles/in-content-native
  • possible size: [f, l],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "sweden-tourism-campaign-reclaims-ikea-names"
}
Sweden, Lake Bolmen, sunset
Sweden's Lake Bolmen, the complete opposite of the IKEA item it shares a name with © Westend61 / Getty Images

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 – and reclaim – these names Visit Sweden has put together a list of 21 of those destinations around Sweden 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’s gaming chair, Järvfjället is a town in Lappland that Visit Sweden says doesn’t 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 “water so clean you can drink from it” 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 Himleån 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?

  • placement: fullWidth
  • path: articles/bottom
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "sweden-tourism-campaign-reclaims-ikea-names"
}

Explore related stories

Herd of Sheep and salt marsh with colorful beach huts at Vesterstrand, Ærøskøbing, Ærø, Denmark, License Type: media, Download Time: 2024-08-28T11:04:05.000Z, User: sashabrady26, Editorial: false, purchase_order: 65050, job: Lonely Planet, client: 8 places to visit in Denmark, other: Sasha Brady

Activities

8 of the best places to visit in Denmark

Aug 28, 2024 • 6 min read

Read more articles