Summer 2025

It’s been a sunny August. This month, in between writing copy for TK Maxx and Bombay Sapphire, eating lavender ice cream in the South of France, and preparing for a big life event, I squeezed in a visit to Ikea’s brand activation in Brighton.

I loved the concept, a pop-up where people can claim free chips as insurance from seagull theft. (The seagulls here are no joke – I’m still getting used to living in a city terrorised by giant, screaming birds.)

I didn’t intend to visit on a busy Saturday but when my friend and I spotted the bright yellow pop-up on the seafront, we immediately fancied chips. We signed up for an Ikea Family account on our phones, queued up, then showed our freshly minted membership numbers. We were told to take a seat in the seagull-proof waiting area. 

Nobody spoke to us after we sat down, so we weren’t sure what was going on. “Where are the chips?” whispered my friend.

After ten minutes of waiting, we left none the wiser. Sure, we could have asked for information, but I’m five months pregnant and my friend was pushing her sleeping baby in a pram, so we left, slightly bemused. We bought chips elsewhere.

If it were any other brand I might have been annoyed… but it’s Ikea, and I know I’ll be shopping in their new Brighton store a lot over the next few months. And anyway, today they pushed a flyer through our door: £5 off for Ikea Family members. It made up for the chips.