Former chief of staff of the resigning prime minister had this amount of cash hidden in an office in São Bento
“Good for storing books. Or 75,800 euros”, reads an advertising poster (mupi) on an IKEA bookshelf, in what is a direct reference to the money that Vítor Escária hid in various places in São Bento, including bookshelves. Escária, exonerated by António Costa, was detained as part of Operation Influencer (but the money found is not related to the suspicions that fall on Vítor Escária within the scope of this investigation – in which there are suspicions of favoring a data center in Sines) .
The Swedish company has other billboards with other political references, but without personally targeting people involved in judicial investigations: in advertising a duvet, for example, Ikea uses the slogan “to keep warm alone or together”.
In a statement sent to CNN Portugal, IKEA Portugal says it likes to “develop campaigns that reflect the real lives” of the Portuguese and that they look at them “with a sense of humor” without, however, “having any intention or purpose of contributing, whether in any way, for the party debate and for the current pre-election context in the country”.
“IKEA has been part of Portuguese people’s daily lives for 20 years, and we like to develop campaigns that reflect their real lives. Their routines, their conversations, their discussions, more and less heated, and the humor with which they often approach the most serious topics”, says the company.
“We look at our campaigns, and at ourselves, with a sense of humor, and often as a way of relieving the tension of a world with increasingly frayed nerves”, the note reads.
This is not the first time that IKEA Portugal has used Portuguese politics to promote its products. A quick search on the company’s website reveals another reference, also without mentioning people targeted by legal investigations: there is a “anti-cold contraption” in a campaign about various products that aim to heat the home and the people who live there, remembering that “the Portuguese are among those who suffer most from the cold indoors in Europe”.