An IKEA post that isn’t about that glamorous monkey in the fur coat? Ugh, fiiiine. So, as we all know, it’s the last day of Pride Month. And nobody loves Pride Month more than corporations. IKEA is no exception. They just released a line of 10 sofas, or “Love Seats”, which were designed based on various LBGBTQ+ flags. There’s a couple of light pink and blue ones inspired by the transgender flag, a frilly one to represent the asexuality flag, and couches that pay homage to pansexual, non-binary, 2spirit, genderfluid, and progress flags.
And THEN there is the bisexual couch. This particular Love Seat is covered in pink, purple, and blue hands and arms that seem to be reaching for the couch-sitter. The back cushions read: “When you change Or to And, nobody believes you.” And it’s giving me less Bisexual Pride and more “Sigourney Weaver gets dragged into her demon fridge in Ghostbusters.”
Obviously, the reaction on Twitter was swift and merciless:
why is the bisexual couch being dragged to hell by the groping hands of the damned pic.twitter.com/I88CbTORZr
— Amy (@amyis_trying) June 29, 2021
therapist: the bisexual ikea couch isn't real it can't hurt you
the bisexual ikea couch: pic.twitter.com/0FVbP14Qsp
— alex (@alex_abads) June 29, 2021
Obsessed with how the bisexual Ikea couch turns into a horror movie prop when you change the text and colors around a little pic.twitter.com/JK5VpxPCFg
— Pio (@wonderpetsfan1) June 29, 2021
IKEA Canada explained that the design, by Charlotte Carbone, was inspired by a poem written by Brian Lanigan, seen below, about bisexual erasure. He explained his poem on Twitter:
I’m a spoken word poet and the hands are meant to represent the audience reaction, especially those of other bisexual folks who would approach me after performances and share their story with me.
2/?
— bisexual couch guy brian (@braino_drano) June 29, 2021
Here’s a closer look at the Love Seats:
Someday, in a post-COVID world, I dream of entering a friend’s apartment and discovering the Bisexual Love Seat in the center of their living room. But where is my friend? Nowhere to be found. Suspicious. I sit on the Bisexual Love Seat to wait for them. And then… hands! So many hands! “NOBODY BELIEVES YOU!” Obviously, I am never seen again.
Pic: IKEA