On the left you can see an example of an IKEA advertisement form the US, and on the right you see a similar product being shown in an advertisement in China. In the US, kitchens and spaces for dining/cooking are usually larger than ones in China, demonstrating the difference in everyday life through these commercials. According to the Daily Mail, IKEA has over 72 different catalogues designed for their respective countries, so each product is advertised differently for each country, which must be a long and difficult process.

Larger Chinese cities are often crammed and low on space, whereas US cities usually expand into suburban areas where the space is used more effectively. These values of space management in their home differ in each country, so the advertisements are adjusted to that.

The advertisement is trying to adjust it’s product to each respective country, and since it’s more common in the Chinese culture to have smaller kitchen spaces, IKEA brands their products of furniture and utensils to fit a smaller space. Another example is shown below:

On the left you see the US advertisement with the whole family, and on the right is the one from Saudi Arabia. They cropped out the woman because in Saudi culture and belief women do not have as many rights as men, and are often not broadcasted and seen as something to present in family culture and bonding. This is being targeted towards people from Saudi Arabia by adjusting the advertisement to be on the same wavelength as the Saudi Arabian culture.