Serious question: how did a shark plushy from ikea become a trans mascot?
this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2026
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That's it, as far as I'm aware
And marketing.
afaik the marketing came later
but it’s certainly here.
The Wikipedia article says that it was associated with the LGBTQ and trans community as early as 2020, while IKEA only leaned into that as of 2021. You appear to be correct, I personally didn't really notice them popping among my friends' until 2022 which was afterwards, so that is likely why I assumed that marketing is a large part of what kickstarted it.
Tell me about it. I went to that hotdog restaurant, Costco, and their back storage area was filled with all kinds of crazy stuff.
i hear they'll let anyone back there, you just gotta slip the door man 40 bucks or something
I'm not even trans, but I used to live near an IKEA and would go just to eat at their restaurant and then leave without buying anything else.
(I don't do it anymore both because I moved across town and because their food got worse. 🙁)
i am a food snob but i only ate there once and was disappointed. what was good?
First of all, just to make sure we're on the same page: I'm talking about the IKEA "restaurant," not the "bistro." The one by the entrance that serves meatballs, not the one by the exit that serves hot dogs.
Second, obviously it was never fine dining or anything, but it was pretty tasty and a decent value, by the standards of a college student.
Anyway, part of of it might've been the novelty (not many other places to get Swedish food around here) wearing off, but I think they've also been cutting some corners. Sometimes they're out of potatoes and/or lingonberry jam to go with the meatballs and give you mixed vegetables instead, for example. Also, I think the potatoes themselves have gotten cheaper-tasting, somehow. I've been trying to look up the restaurant menu from a decade ago to compare, and I've noticed things like how they used to garnish your meatball plate with parsley to show they cared, which they don't bother to do anymore.
(source from 2010)
They also got rid of the Princess Cake! I found this while looking up what it was called, so clearly I'm not the only one who's noticed the decline: https://www.mashed.com/1304386/ikeas-restaurant-just-isnt-as-good-as-it-used-to-be/
They also lowered the selection and (especially) raised the prices on their Easter, Midsommar, and Julbord (Christmas) smörgåsbord events. It's like $10 more per person than it used to be, and IIRC they got rid of the smoked salmon, among other things.
Sorry, but I heard this image, and it sounded like this:
I read it in the "what the fuck is fem&m" voice from the start of "fem&m anfem" by fem&m.
What does this have to do with anything (beyond the song being called "Ikea")?
Thats it.
Accurate
The horrifying flashbacks that cart/wagon gave me are just unreal. This is genius. 🩵