No women, or girls, were given space in the special edition of a brochure which was published by Ikea in Israel.
‘This was not something that has gone through us. We have been very clear that this is not what the Ikea brand stands for’, said spokesperson, Josefin Thorell of Ikea Group to the Swedish TT news agency.
The brochure was distributed to strictly Orthodox Jews in Israel, who according to Thorell, have franchisees which were responsible for products that target specific target audiences.
‘Ikea Israel say they have received inquiries about this, and they wanted to offer products and solutions that abide by the rules of the traditional ‘Haredim’ lifestyle. Haredim is a term for ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel. They have since realized that this was a mistake’, said Thorell.
‘They have also come out and publicly apologised’, she added.
The incident in Israel is not the first time that Ikea have published material that includes no women. In autumn 2012, the company removed women from its Saudi Arabian catalogue.
After the incident, the Ikea Group reinforced controls and procedures regarding its catalogues.
‘We realize that people are upset over this, and that the brochure does not live up to the ideals that Ikea stands for, and we apologise for this’ noted Ikea Israel’s CEO, Shuky Koblenz.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
