Furniture giant IKEA trolled viciously for leaving New Zealand out of its world map

Wellington, Feb 12: Does furniture retailer IKEA not follow cricket? The brand recently came up with a map of the world in which it did not include the island-nation of New Zealand and it has caused quite a controversy with even the prime minister of the nation launching a campaign on the social media to get it back on the map costing $29 (Rs 2,063).

The glaring error was first spotted by a Reddit user by the name of Jibbles666 who shared a picture of the map with the caption: "IKEA's map game is not on point". The picture of the map is from a store of IKEA in Washington DC.

The picture went viral soon after getting posted and the netizens trolled the brand for the goof-up.

New Zealand: *exists*
Ikea: pic.twitter.com/9cUFSenDYq

— Avon DeRussate (@avon_deer) February 8, 2019

@IKEA found something for you. #ikea #NewZealand pic.twitter.com/CAGaHTql0z

— Matt Eastman (@MattyEastman) February 10, 2019

The irony lied in the fact that IKEA has only revealed recently its plans to launch new stores in New Zealand, reported the country's news website Stuff.

The brand though reacted to their mistake in a statement later. Speaking to the BBC, it said the product is being phased out from its stores all over.

On Reddit, there is a community called 'MapsWithoutNZ' that share pictures of maps that overlook New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere. It has nearly 60,000 subscribers.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also started a campaign ('#GetNZOnTheMap'') for including her country on the world map with a post on Facebook.

"Admit it. You've noticed the absence of New Zealand on world maps before too. Some call it a conspiracy (I'm looking at you @RhysDarby) some call it the negligent...either way it's time for a wee campaign! Help us #getNZonthemap," her post read.

It may be mentioned here that New Zealand hired a comedian named Rhys Darby last year to educate people about the issue.