Swedish retailer Clas Ohlson has debuted a new TV ad this month to support its A Better Home campaign, created to encourage people to use their smartphones more wisely and enjoy their home, when they’re at home.

The TV ad, which you can see here, first hit screens on Monday, September 3 on ITV Meridian during This Morning. A40-second and 60-second version of the ad will run for the next four weeks, with the retailer having secured slots across ITV during popular programmes, including The X-Factor, Emmerdale, Coronation Street, ITV News and The Jonathan Ross Show. The commercials will also show across a selection of London cinemas.

Created by Swedish agency King, the ad, which is also running in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany, engages with the issue of increasing smartphone usage, and asks whether, as a nation, we’re losing out on quality family time as a result of our smartphone obsession.

The advert features a mother whose home is invaded by things such as work emails, current political and social issues, celebrity gossip and social media, driving a physical barrier between her and her family. It ends with the phone being put down and the family spending time together, and the strapline “Are you actually at home, when you’re at home?”

The addition to social media and need to reduce smartphone use has become a popular topic in the press of late, so the new ad is likely to hot home with consumers. As a brand, Clas Ohlson says it is keen to help customers simplify life by ‘providing products that can really make a house a home, and encouraging a home life that is free from the distractions brought about by excessive smartphone use’.  

Clas Ohlson UK head of marketing Melissa Titshall said of the campaign: “We’re incredibly excited and proud to launch our A Better Home campaign. Clas Ohlson was founded 100 years ago in Sweden by a father, and our values are centred around the balance of Nordic life and helping those who shop with us to have a balanced life through the innovation, smartness, simplicity and design in our products.

“We are hoping to raise awareness and help people to combat the issue of excessive mobile phone usage, by supplying practical advice and helpful tips and products that, in turn, will create a happy home for our customers to spend time in.”

Clas Ohlson’s A Better Home campaign will be supported by various activities designed to champion the message and raise awareness, and the retailer will be hosting top tips from a psychologist, home hacks, tips and helpful products on a dedicated microsite on how to use your smartphone and time more wisely, with a view to simoplifying life at home.