The retailer tells customers to "start the phone" as a kick off to a new strategy on the social platform.

IKEA Canada has made its debut on TikTok with a tribute to one of its most well-known ads.

Before launching on TikTok on March 1, the “#IKEACanada” hashtag had already been viewed over 50 million times by customers and fans, showing there was a vibrant and growing audience for the retailer to tap into.

To announce its arrival on the social platform, a video shows someone in an IKEA store looking down at their phone in surprise – presumably after discovering the retailer’s TikTok account – before she dashes across the parking lot to implore people to “start the phone” and see for themself.

The video is an homage to IKEA’s “Not A Mistake” ad from 2005. Created by Canadian agency Zig, it features a woman mistaking the savings she found during an IKEA sale as a cashier mistake – and her cries of “start the car” as she makes her “escape” through the parking lot helped make the ad one of the retailer’s most memorable.

The new video was created by agency Dentsu Creative as part of its social assignment with IKEA Canada.

IKEA Canada’s strategy for TikTok is to create inspirational content as part of its new “Bring Home To Life” brand platform, but also foster community and promote products and commerce solutions. It also plans to work with “well-loved Canadian content creators” in future videos, as well as its own staff, to showcase homes, real life moments and humour from stores across Canada.

“Social media has always been an extension of our omnichannel experience at IKEA Canada, a community to connect IKEA with brand lovers, bringing real homes, inspiration and shopping to life on the channels where our customers prefer to engage with us,” said Kristin Newbigging, integrated media manager at IKEA Canada. “We’re excited to now meet and engage directly with this fast-growing audience, while embracing the humour, entertainment and trending features that make TikTok completely unique.”