Put one of TV’s most popular and spontaneous chefs and a country with gastronomic traditions so far from him and from ours, mix it all and the result is bound to be irresistible. This is the key to “Christmas at the Larsson house”, a miniseries produced by IKEA Italy as part of the platform “The secret ingredient is us”, dedicated to the kitchen as a place of natural sociability, and represents the new social campaign signed by DUDE Milano and online from November 17.
The starting point is simple: tradition remains tradition until someone decides to interpret it. A concept that in Sweden, the company’s homeland, sounds almost revolutionary. Thus came the idea of a miniseries that sent Giorgione (aka Giorgio Barchiesi), the beloved face (and dungarees) of TV’s Gambero Rosso, on a trip to the Nordics, requesting a tailor-made assignment: to bring back a taste of Italian feasting to Mrs. The rest is a culinary journey that resembles a crash course in gastronomic diplomacy.
These four episodes show how the negotiating table is a more solid meeting place than institutional announcements. The recipes serve as an entry visa between cultures: Swedish canapes with a touch of tuna sauce, cannelloni with cod with dill and Gräddost cheese, Lussebullar who treat themselves to a holiday in Sicily thanks to almond paste. A dish that probably won’t go down in history, but tells better than many campaigns how we celebrate anniversaries today: adapting them, mixing them, rewriting them without too much guilt.
For IKEA, this project reaffirms its role as more than just shelves and Allen keys: to be a free zone where different traditions can coexist. “In the dialogue between Italy and Sweden, IKEA presented itself as a connecting point…”, recalls Matteo Bellini, IKEA Italy Integrated Media Manager, explaining that the aim was to encourage everyone to bring their own “secret ingredient” to the discussion. Translated: no one needs to feel guilty if instead of turkey they serve meatballs or cannelloni, a cousin of köttbullar.
The campaign aired on the company’s and Giorgione’s social networks, particularly on Instagram and TikTok, where owned and paid content overlapped in a story with a domestic tone, between irony and good feeling. The medium direction is with Wavemaker, which aims to reach a large and engaged audience at the same time, encouraging people to browse the table and kitchen area.
The project then expanded the story into exclusive recipes for IKEA Family members and a center dedicated to preparations created together with Giorgione.
Therefore, “Christmas at the Larsson house” is understated, as such parties are: nothing epic, just an invitation to consider differences as gifts and to rediscover the power of sharing beyond any language or taste.
