Ikea Leaves New Zealand Off Map – After Announcing Store In NZ

Apparently Ikea is going to drop a store or two into the Pacific Ocean – at least, according to their own map they are. Ikea has a lovely map you can hang on the wall, the Bjorksta, which manages to leave New Zealand entirely off. And yet Ikea has also announced that they’re going to open a store or two in that land that doesn’t exist. Wet furniture is such a turn on, eh?

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] The furniture chain Ikea has apologised after becoming the latest offender to leave New Zealand off a map. An eagle-eyed Reddit user spotted that the shop is currently selling the map with a blank space where the country should be. User Jibbles666 spotted the mistake while shopping at an an Ikea outlet in Washington DC, USA. [/perfectpullquote]

That there’s an entire subReddit devoted to maps which leave New Zealand off shows that this isn’t that uncommon.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]r/MapsWithoutNZ.[/perfectpullquote]

The thing is though, Ikea has just announced that it’s to open stores in NZ:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] IKEA launch – what you need to know • An Ikea megastore will open in Auckland in the ‘next couple of years’ • They have ‘many locations in mind’ for the first store, but it’s too early to say where it will be • A second store will open in the South Island • Ikea’s meatballs will be on the menu – and locally sourced • A pop-up store will open in Auckland before the megastore is ready [/perfectpullquote]

There’s been a Facebook page arguing for this for some time now. One that Ikea even briefed on the announcement:

Ah well, typos do happen, even in maps. This isn’t as bad as that version of the Bible that managed to leave the “not” out of the adultery bit.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The Wicked Bible, sometimes called Adulterous Bible or Sinners’ Bible, is the Bible published in 1631 by Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, the royal printers in London, meant to be a reprint of the King James Bible. The name is derived from a mistake made by the compositors: in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:14), the word “not” in the sentence “Thou shalt not commit adultery” was omitted, thus changing the sentence into “Thou shalt commit adultery”.[/perfectpullquote]

Still, look on the bright side of this. If New Zealand doesn’t exist then the next Rugby World Cup is going to be a lot easier for everyone else, isn’t it?