The Ikea catalogue has a distinction that likely drives many struggling authors up the wall — with a first run of over 220 million copies, it is the world’s most widely-distributed book. But does it hold up to the scrutiny that should come with such a title?

To find out, Swiss agency Wirz Werbung convinced actual respected German literary critic Hellmuth Karasek to sit down and give this year’s catalogue the critical look it deserves. As one might expect, Karasek does not find much literary value in its pages (choice quote: “It has a lot to say, but much of it could be considered junk…were it not to contain mostly brand new pieces of furniture”) and does not appreciate its tendency to tell the reader how to find happiness in their lives in ways that fly in the face of Freud. But, ultimately, he concludes that, if looking at the “idyllic” scenes in the catalogue do it for you, then he isn’t going to stop you.

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Credits:

Brand: Ikea
Agency: Wirz Werbung
Executive Creative Directors: Livio Dainese, Fernando Perez
Creative Directors: Caspar Heuss, Michael Schmidt
Art Director: Luca Schneider
Copywriter: Wolfgang Bark
Production Company: Big Fish