The 1st of October 2012 , the British newspaper METRO broke the news : the new Ikea catalogue for their Saudian stores erased every women from the pictures :
The news made a scandal and all over the world Ikea has been criticized for the decision they made.
Saudi Arabia being a muslim country heavily influenced by the Sharia ( the religious law of Islam) they don't allow women to reveal parts of their body such as their arms, legs , breast etc..And go even further in the covering as they require women (even the foreigners) to wear a Niqab.
Ikea quickly reacted by apologizing “We should have reacted to the exclusion of women from the Saudi Arabian version of the catalog since it does not align with the IKEA Group values.”
But the damage was already done.
I personally think that erasing women models from their catalogue is indeed disrespectful to women and it is almost a denial of their existence and their importance in the society.
But I can understand their decision as a marketing choice. The Ikea Group knew that if they would have put women in their catalogues, the Saudians wouldn't have looked through the pages during family time or with their wives or husbands and it would have affected their sales pretty strongly. They adapted their strategy to their audience, and put their financial interest first.
What do you think? Smart choice or not?
Well i firmly believe that it is indeed unthinkable for a big multinational like Ikea to do should a thing but we also need to understand that elsewhere people have other values different than ours. Maybe these pictures may hurt their ‘moeurs’ and sensibility. I think Ikea should have dealt with this issue with a little more sensibility. Indeed they should have asked for compromise.
ReplyDeleteMeaning allowing women in their catalogues but women that wore hijab or something covering that which they don't want them to show. So yes a dangerous marketing choice which could potentially
cost them a lot
ReplyDeleteInteresting article !
ReplyDeleteI agree with their decision, because if they would have kept women, it also would have caused a scandal, because they wouldn'tt have respected their audience's values.
what could or should they do? Ikea is not intended or interest to upset the customs, culture and sensitivities of the countries in which they operate. we might wonder about the image they convey if there is an image of course ? don’t forget that their main purpose is purely financial. I don’t think they are pre-occupied by the status of Saudi women unfortunately...
ReplyDeleteInteresting article !
ReplyDeleteHacene Chaher
Really interesting !
ReplyDeleteI think Ikea just want to sell.. They really don't care about Muslim people but they care about the money.. That's life.. If they have to erase women to make their campaign a success and to sell they products, I understand their choice.. They just play the game..
ReplyDelete