Wirz: The man behind the Ikea catalog

Have you ever wondered why the furniture in the Ikea catalog looks so good? Why they seem so real, so natural, so human? A new documentary short film provides the answer: because they have a world-class assistant. Torbjörn Lundberg, 34, who lives in Malmö, always comes into play when the furniture doesn't yet know anything about its good fortune.

As a "furniture impersonator", he makes sure that the new chairs, tables, lamps and shelves are represented in a dignified manner when setting up the lighting in the photo studio. In the process, he slips unmistakably into the role of a Billy shelf, only to deliver a perfect hectare pendant light an hour later. It's kind of like him playing Reese Witherspoon one minute and John Goodman the next. But there's more: Torbjörn is a Method Actor. He doesn't imitate, he doesn't act, he embodies, he becomes Billy, he becomes Hektar, he becomes Möckelby, he becomes Stornäs.

The three-and-a-half-minute exploration of the 2017 Ikea catalog was commissioned by Ikea Switzerland and produced under the aegis of Wirz and renowned director Björn Rühmann.

It is published exactly one year after literary critic Hellmuth Karasek reviewed the catalog in a highly entertaining way. A promotional campaign that was not only viewed more than half a million times on YouTube and attracted attention as far afield as the leading American media, but also garnered a number of awards, including gold at the Eurobest Festival and gold at the Epica Awards.

Responsible at Ikea Switzerland: Mikael Pilblad (Marketing Manager Switzerland), Simon Wirth (External Communication Manager), Fabian von Rechenberg (Project Leader Campaign), Aurel Hosennen (Country PR & Communication Manager), Alexander Gligorijevic (PR Manager), Christoph Widmer (Social Media Manager). Responsible at Wirz: Livio Dainese (CCO), Fernando Perez (ECD), Caspar Heuss (CD), Adrian Huwyler, Sascha Djabbari (Digital), Adrian Schräder, Antonia Frind (Wirz Storyline), Petra Dreyfus, Yves Rückert, Nino Zuberbühler (Consulting), Sebahat Derdiyok (Agency Producer), Bettina Faessler (Art Buying). Producer: Frank Siegel/Wiebke Feit, Production: Bigfish Berlin/Feit Film Zürich, Director: Björn Rühmann, DoP: Kolja Brand, Editor: Alexander Jurkat, Postproduction: Südlich-t. Grading: Cheat Ltd. Toby Tomkins, Sound: Jingle Jungle, Music: German Wahnsinn Team.