If you’re shopping for a new sofa this summer and you go to IKEA, you may leave with a new puppy, too. The Arizona Humane Society has partnered with IKEA Tempe to launch a pilot program featuring adoptable pets. As you walk through the showroom, there are cardboard cut-outs of dogs and cats displayed among kitchen furniture and dorm room displays.
"Each cut out has a tag on it with a QR code and that QR code goes right back to our adoptable pet pages," said Bretta Nelson, the public relations manager at the Humane Society.
The program started at the IKEA in Singapore, but the Tempe store is the first one in the United States to feature the adoptable pets. The cut-outs will be featured for the entire summer, showing unsuspecting shoppers just how cute the pets could be shedding on your new furniture.
"And those are people that, you know, weren’t necessarily looking to adopt that day, but right when it was in front of them, gave them that extra nudge," Nelson said.
Social media has been key to the success so far, said Becky Blaine, the PR manager at IKEA Tempe. She said it’s helped tie the launch to the city.
"Just being able to work with a community organization in this way I think is a win-win situation," said Blaine.
While all of the pets on display in the store were adopted the first week of the program, the Humane Society’s website is updated hourly. So buyer beware, your renovated kitchen may come complete with a fluffy kitten.