IKEA Singapore takes a dig at the man who stole a bus stop bench for his new flat

Photo: IKEA / Facebook
Photo: IKEA / Facebook

No strangers to digging into current affairs to sell its products, the Singapore outpost of furniture giant IKEA has chimed in about the recent (and downright wacky) case that involved a man dismantling a metal bench from a bus stop to furnish his new flat.

Earlier this week, the nation had a proper chuckle about news of a 22-year-old man who was sentenced to a week in detention for his bizarre misdeed. In June last year, Tan Ke Wei unscrewed the bolts of a bus stop bench with his hands and brought it back home. When queried by the cops, he claimed that he simply wanted to check its dimensions — the man was intending to renovate his new flat with a design based on an integrated bus stop. Wew, lad.

A case that’s perfectly primed for the marketing team behind Swedish home furnishing brand to jump on, and they did. Yesterday, they put up a post promoting their grey INDUSTRIELL bench that can be bought flat-packed, with “no dismantling required”. Compared to the $1,500 price point of the bus stop bench (yeah, it really costs that much, according to the Land Transport Authority), IKEA’s $159 bench is a steal. Figuratively speaking.

In fact, IKEA had a field day responding to folks with quips and suggestions on other products to purchase should they, like poor ol’ Tan, wanted a bus stop-inspired aesthetic in their homes.

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