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'Bookbook' ad from Ikea mocks Apple in a brilliant way

Ikea has released a product video for the cutting-edge intuitive technology embodied in its 'bookbook' — also known as its 2015 print catalog. The Ikea 'bookbook' ad is a send up of Apple's now-iconic commercials. 

September 5, 2014

Tech ads are a bit messianic these days. Everyone from Samsung to  is showing idealized devices creating a more beautiful world. But the leader of this vision is certainly .

Like much of Apple's design aesthetic, its all-white, floating  product videos have become iconic. Of course, when something becomes that popular and hallowed — like Jony Ive's clean lines and awe-struck praise of his own creation — it also becomes ripe for parody.

Enter Ikea, the Swedish budget  giant that knows a thing or two about simple, iconic design. This week, the chain released a product video for the cutting-edge intuitive technology embodied in its "bookbook™" — also known as its 2015 print catalog.

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"Once in a while, something comes along that changes the way we live, a device so simple and intuitive, using it feels almost familiar," gushes fictional Chief Design Güru Jörgen Eghammer.

He goes on to praise the bookbook's "tactile touch technology" — i.e. page-turning — "which you can actually feel," as well as its "eternal" battery life and instantaneous loading "no matter how fast you scroll."

Features aside, you really can't beat the bookbook's price: free. It usually takes the iPhone , and that's with a two-year contract!

Ikea joins a growing tradition of , not to mention rival ads that .

What do you think? Are these videos giving tech worship the skewering it needs, or is it just sour grapes? Let us know in the comments below.

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Benjamin Glaser is a features editor for Dealnews.com, where this article first appeared:Â