TARGET 151104

THE 2015 IKEA CHRISTMAS GOAT’S
EARLY DEMISE

^{The IKEA Christmas goat}

Every year, in Sweden, IKEA builds a goat out of wood and straw for their Christmas decoration, a giant version of the traditional Swedish Yule Goat.


^{The IKEA Christmas goat in Iceland}

IKEA's store in Iceland is in the city of Hafnarfjordur, on the eastern coast. Like their mother company, this IKEA store in Hafnarfjordur builds a Christmas goat each year, putting it up in October to begin the Christmas selling season.

But this mini-tradition to follow the Swedish company's lead seems to be a magnet for misfortune. In both 2011 and 2013, unusually high winds blew the goat apart. Its thin metal frame was unable to stand up against Iceland’s trademark gusts. In 2010, 2012, and 2014, vandals set fire to the goat just out of meanness.

This year (2015), though, the goat was protected by an electric fence, security cameras, and night watchmen, and the winds were not predicted, so the goat was expected to make it to Christmas. But mankind has no protection from Fate, and this year, the goat went up in flames again.




^{The Goat's demise}

Although the goat is known for being a recurring target for arsonists, this time the fire was started by faulty Christmas lights used to decorate it. Þórarinn Ævarsson, IKEA’s managing director, says the goat was reduced to ashes in a matter of seconds. "We’re rather upset about the whole incident," he said, "but a new goat is set to be erected outside IKEA’s store in the Reykjavík suburb of Garðabær over the next couple of days."

Ævarsson added, "It appears to have committed suicide. The goat is made of straw and so it is not believed to have suffered. The financial pain of IKEA, though, amounts to one million ISK (USD 7,800, EUR 7,000) in Christmas light costs. The goat was six meters (20 feet) tall. This goat is much too valuable and has much too special a place in my heart for me to put it on fire," he adamantly maintains.

Þórarinn says the tradition has been to increase the size of the goat every time it has burned down. The original goat measured 4 meters (13 feet) in height. Þórarinn denies this being a marketing stunt. He maintains his innocence and emphasizes the Christmas lights were not purchased at IKEA. He refuses to reveal where they were bought. ""

If you got impressions for which this feedback is insufficient, more information,
pictures and videos can be found at the following web sites:

Visir
Iceland Magazine
The Grapevine
Iceland Review

Photos by: Bylgja Guðjónsdóttir/Facebook