A theme going on many years here at Techdirt has been the idea that separating content and advertising, as was the traditional model, makes far less sense in the modern era. Audiences are no longer captive in the way they used to be, with many ways to skip advertising. Entertainment vectors are far more plentiful then they used to be, with more options for how we spend our entertainment time. Eyeballs are the currency of the day, which has led to far, far more things competing for our attention.
Given all of that, content is always some form of advertisement, intentional or otherwise, and advertising definitely better include good content or it will be ignored. On the advertising side, this means creating ads of one sort or another that are engaging and interesting. That itself can take many forms, but absurdity and humor are a common method for achieving this.
And if you want absurdity and humor, allow me to introduce you to Ikea’s approach, which was to create a Skyrim mod.
Ikea, the Swedish furniture-and-stuff giant, has released a mod for Skyrim called Kallax Storageborn: A new companion who is also a shelf, who is also voiced by Matt Berry. If you think that sounds weird, it gets weirder, because this mod doesn’t just add a companion, it includes an entirely new questline built around the character. Becoming encumbered in the game, as will inevitably happen eventually, will give you the opportunity to visit an abandoned dwemer emporium, where you’ll embark upon a quest to “unravel the origins of a mysterious master.”
During this quest, you’ll assemble Kallax Storageborn, a companion “with unfathomable storage capacity,” who can be summoned with a newly-added Thu’um—Skyrim’s famous voice of power—even when he’s not your active companion. Your ultimate goal: Tidy up the clutter plaguing the realm of Nords and Dragonborn.
There’s more. You can acquire the Allenblade, which is, yes, a sword styled after an Allen wrench, a common tool shipped with Ikea furniture. There’s also a helmet that is made from a meatball, a nod towards Ikea’s famous in-store Swedish meatballs.
You can see the announcement video here for yourself.
This whole thing is incredibly dumb, and I mean that in the most endearing, praising way possible, because it’s also quite smart. It’s a creative way to advertise a brand and, yes, a specific model of shelving from a furniture store. The delivery is done with Monty Python-esque silliness, a motif which fits quite comfortably in the realm of Skyrim, an otherwise very serious game. The voice production is a nice touch. It doesn’t in any way take itself seriously.
And, if you’ve played Skyrim yourself for more than an hour, you’ll know that encumbrance and inventory capacity are major, and to some annoying, challenges within the game.
So, this is advertising on a relatively low budget in a game still widely played and modded to this day, with a mod that actually addresses something some players find annoying, and does so with absurd humor and self-deprecation. And a meatball helmet.
Whatever else you think of this advertising, there’s no denying that it’s also content.