Customers were left stunned and confused last week as IKEA unveiled a giant turkey-sized meatball on its social channels.
The Swedish furniture brand announced the news on Instagram with the caption: ‘It’s big. It’s tasty. It’s a proper Christmas showstopper. Introducing the IKEA Turkey-Sized Meatball.’
The humongous meatball was pictured on a platter surrounded by mashed potato, as a hand pours gravy over the spherical centrepiece. Apparently, it weighs in at a whopping 4.5kg and, like its signature meatballs, is made with beef and pork and served with its signature creamy sauce and lingonberry jam.
However, many customers couldn’t quite believe their eyes and questioned whether the announcement was real. One user commented: ‘Didn’t realise it was the 1st of April’.
While another simply said, ‘Please be real’.
Plenty of tongue-in-cheek reactions flowed into the comments section too. One user quipped: ‘This is it. This is how Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs begins.’ While others commented on the amount of gravy it would need.
'We’re gonna need a bigger gravy boat’, one user wrote.
IKEA has now revealed that the giant meatball is very much real, including how to get your hands on one this Christmas. Although they’re not available to buy in store, the brand launched a competition to giveaway ‘30 glorious Turkey-Sized Meatballs and 30 vegan friendly Veggieball Christmas Trees’ over on Instagram.
The winners will be able to pick up their meat or veggie centrepieces from their nominated IKEA store on either Friday 22 December or Saturday 23 December.
Although the competition has technically now closed, you can still purchase IKEA's regular sizes meatball in store or online.
Fancy a more traditional Christmas dinner? These are the best Christmas dinners in London for 2023.