'We are open to all families': IKEA provokes outrage in Italy after creating advert with gay couple holding hands



This is the latest gay themed advert from furniture giants IKEA which has appeared on billboards across traditionally Catholic Italy - with surprisingly no outrage.

Swedish based IKEA is no stranger to gay adverts and has run several campaigns in the past - some of which have had to be pulled after complaints from the public.

The advert shows two men holding hands with the slogan reading: ’We are open to all families.’ It adds:’With us you will feel at home. What we want to do is make life easier for everyone, every family, every couple, whoever they are.'



It has been used extensively to promote the opening of the latest IKEA store in Italy at Catania, on the island of Sicily, known for its deeply religious Catholic traditions.

The billboard made for Italy, says 'We are open to all families', showing a gay couple holding hands but has caused outrage in the Catholic country

Il Giornale, the newspaper owned by ruling prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has promoted himself as a defender of family values despite his involvement in a series of sex scandals has condemned the advert.

It labelled it as ''provocative'' and added:'’What's behind all this? It's not awareness of gay rights for gay couples. It's just a brazen marketing strategy.’

Il Giornale, the newspaper owned by PM Silvio Berlusconi, has condemned the advert

The paper went on to say that it was ''not an isolated incident'' but a clear attempt at ''Swedish Imperialism'' that tried to make everyone equal by having the same ''cheap furniture.''

Il Giornale added:’One has to ask what is the point of such a campaign by IKEA in Catania - it's obvious that they are just trying to get themselves talked about.’



Berlusconi and his ruling People of Freedom Party have long championed family values and aligned themselves with the all-powerful Catholic Church which condemns homosexuality and same sex relationships.

Il Giornale's website was inundated with outraged comments protesting at what they called a ''shock campaign'' but gay rights campaigners in Italy welcomed the advert.

Blog Queer Italy said:’Nothing can be more indigestible for our bigots and homophobes who cannot bear to read the word family with the words same sex.

‘We like this advert and we welcome it - maybe some others will follow on from this campaign and look forward progressively and modernly, instead of backwards to the Middle Ages.’



In 1994 IKEA caused controversy when it launched its first gay themed advert which featured a male couple shopping for a dining room table together.

The two middle-aged men, who finish each other's sentences, say ''a leaf means commitment.'' At the end, one says, ‘We've got another leaf waiting for when we REALLY start getting along’ which was seen as an implication of having children.

The IKEA ad disappeared only a few weeks after it began when the retailer got a bomb threat at a store from conservatives, along with calls for a boycott.

In 2007, IKEA ran an ad campaign titled 'Living Room,' which aired across Europe and it featured a series of families in different living rooms, ending with a mixed race gay male couple and their daughter, and the voiceover:''Why shouldn't sofas come in

flavours, just like families?'' The regional council in Sicily has welcomed the opening of the IKEA store in Catania as it has created 308 new jobs and more than 20,000 people visited it on the first day.

