Ikea would like to remind you that it’s not OK to masturbate in its stores after woman’s do it yourself video goes viral
IKEA (Getty)
A viral ‘Ikea woman’ video showing a shopper masturbating in a store in China has prompted the retailer to release a statement kindly requesting that customers don’t pleasure themselves while shopping.
Some people visit Ikea for its cheap minimalist furniture, others for its meatballs and Daim bar cakes. But for one woman, Ikea is a place to masturbate in public.
A viral clip filmed in a Chinese Ikea store shows a woman half-naked on display furniture, touching herself while oblivious shoppers walk by.
The ‘Ikea woman’ video was swiftly deleted from Chinese social media sites, but not before screencaps spread across the web.
In fact, images of the woman were shared so widely that the Swedish furniture giant was forced to issue a statement reiterating its policy on masturbation.
Ikea video forces retailer to issue statement.
“We resolutely oppose and condemn this kind of behaviour, and immediately reported it to the police in the city of the suspected store,” a statement read.
Ikea stressed it would take “even more careful security and public cleanliness measures” and encouraged all customers to “browse stores in an orderly and civilised way”.
It didn’t name the store in which the video was filmed, but speculation is rife that it was a location in Guangdong province, as Cantonese can be heard in the background.
It’s also thought that the Ikea video was filmed a few months ago, as neither the woman nor anybody else in the clip are wearing face masks.
Last summer Ikea revealed itself to be quite the ally after it fired an employee who posted a homophobic comment on its company intranet.
Poland ordered an investigation into the move, with officials having reportedly considered a boycott of the retailer in retaliation.
The brand also released a rainbow edition of its iconic holdall bag, and in a strong example of how brands can celebrate Pride meaningfully, donated all proceeds to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF).
