You should always be wary of the reach of events organized on social networks. This time, many teenagers met in 2019 in an Ikea store in Glasgow to organize not an X-project inspired party, but... A giant hide-and-seek game.
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The young would-be players were responding to a Facebook event organized a few days earlier, and to which several thousand people had replied that they wanted to participate. The managers of the Braehead district store had prepared accordingly and the game was very quickly interrupted.
Parties banned since 2015
Rob Cooper, site manager, commented on the events:
We were aware that an unauthorized game of hide-and-seek organized through Facebook was to take place in our store and we worked in conjunction with the police. The safety of our customers and our employees is our priority.
The number of security guards was also increased for the occasion. Ikea officially banned games of hide and seek on its premises back in 2015.
We understand that playing this type of game in our stores may appeal to some, but we do not allow these activities. We want to provide our customers with a safe environment and a relaxing shopping experience
The police came to lend a hand
Despite efforts made by the security agents to block the 3,000 young people who were trying to enter the store, the officials had to call the police to supervise the exit and the dispersion of the young participants, determined to start their game.
This is not the first time that Ikea has been used as a playground by young people. Remember in particular the challenge of spending 24 hours in a store (which has all the amenities for a good night's sleep), or other events that called for naps in the store's beds. One of those calls had more than 32,000 positive responses, forcing the company to take action. It is now impossible to partake in such practices in all of the famous Swedish brand stores.
