In spring 1997, a co-worker at IKEA discovered that the eyes on the soft toys at Children’s IKEA could come off. All soft toys were therefore immediately removed from the stores. Thankfully, no child had got an eye stuck in their throat, but the risk was obvious. IKEA immediately recalled all its soft toys and gave a refund.
Production at the supplier company in India was halted, but IKEA wanted to take responsibility for the workers at the factory and carried on working with the company. A team headed by designer Anna Efverlund visited the factory and came up with the idea of manufacturing cushions without any loose parts. One of the first new products made there was FAMNIG, which appeared in the range in 1998 and in the IKEA catalogue in the 2000 edition. The red cuddly cushion would become an IKEA institution, later changing name to FAMNIG HJÄRTA.
The incident led to an even more structured approach to safety at IKEA, particularly on children’s products. Clearer routines and responsibilities were established, and one of many important measures was that IKEA decided to no longer use plastic eyes on its toys. Embroidered eyes were not only safer, they also turned out to give the toys more character and personality. At the time this was not the norm in the toy industry, but after a while many other companies followed suit.
