Stephen Moss of The Guardian (c.2000) analyzes IKEA’s “Tattoo Man” ad campaign during the retailer’s English expansion, stressing its affordability and the self-sufficiency it advocated. IKEA provided design, inspiration, knowledge, and basic tools, challenging customers to assemble and utilize their purchases independently in a departure from traditional retail service:

In the ad, one of the co-workers suggests it would be better to scrap self- assembly, thus avoiding the nightmare of customers bringing back furniture that resolutely refused to fit together. Tattooman is not amused: he gets the staff to remove their shirts and sniff each other’s armpits. The moral: sweat is honest, work represents integrity, and it is good that IKEA customers are given a chance to sweat, too.

The preceding ads in the tattoman series feature him displaying unusual tattoos to symbolize how cutting unnecessary services saves money, while another promotes IKEA’s in-stock policy over lengthy delivery times elsewhere.