Just a few short days before the launch of the IKEA LEKO!

[ahmed_7erzon]

Swedish company IKEA has made the headlines these past few days, not for its furniture but rather for a car that it claims it will unveil on the eve of April 1.


April 1? You guessed it.

But what's causing all the commotion? Internet buzz set off by site of Ikea's French subsidiary at http://roulez-leko.com. The microsite hosts a video where a man by the name of Christophe Grozs introduces himself as the designer directed by IKEA to create the ultimate green car. Dubbed LEKO, it is super flexible, "both wagon and convertible," explains the designer, adding that this initiative is even supported by the World Wildlife Fund France.

Now, it's a strange coincidence that on March 12, before the buzz was first generated, IKEA France and the WWF-France announced that they had signed an agreement to jointly support the WWF's "Climate Change" environmental protection program.

What's more, Sustainable Development Week starts April 1 in France. Another coincidence, you say.

On Digg, a commentator wrote that the video shown on IKEA's microsite was originally titled "covoiturage.swf," French for carpooling. A title that has since been deleted.

Everything points to a new viral marketing ploy. A new and very original type of ad not unlike the Mystery of Dallarö, a spoof dreamed up by Volvo in 2003 for the launch of the S40.

In an eight-minute mockumentary, a pseudo director from Venezuela claimed to be searching for an explanation to an unexplained event. In 2003, 32 residents of a small, forgotten Swedish town supposedly bought the same model car on the same day: a Volvo S40.

The viral ad was seen around the world. Just like IKEA's is today.

Then again, the cars we drive today don't all have such cut-and-dry origins. Didn't Nicolas Hayek of Switzerland, creator of the Swatch watch, initiate the smart project now sold by Mercedes-Benz?

And then there are the Peugeot brothers, who manufactured birdcages and corsets before trying their luck with automobiles.

So what's stopping IKEA from taking the plunge? After all, both Volvo and Saab of Sweden are currently looking for new owners.