IKEA pencil

IKEA pencils are small pencils provided for free[1] in IKEA stores worldwide. They are found in small boxes attached to poles, together with maps, measuring tapes and shopping forms. The IKEA pencil has been known for the wide variety of designs. Through the years the color changed from blue, to yellow to the natural color of wood. Despite the different colors, its dimensions have always been 7x87mm.[2]

Old IKEA pencils

Modern IKEA pencils.

It is said that the Ikea pencil was introduced to rival the Argos pen, which was also given for free at Argos stores in the United Kingdom.[3] During this time, the competitor only provided six pens for each catalogue stand while Ikea offered them in large dispensers.[3] Ikea orders 5.2 million pencils yearly for its Canadian stores alone,[4] and the company does not disapprove of customers that put them to other uses such as craft projects or works of art. The Dutch artist Judith Delleman constructed a chair out of hundreds of them.[4] When an Ikea store first opened in South Korea, two years' worth of free pencils were consumed in the span of two months.[5]

Being disposable, the pencils are also used by surgeons to mark osteotomy cuts in craniofacial and maxillofacial surgery.[6][7][8] Another application of pencils is to draw electronic circuits, and IKEA pencils have been used in the fabrication of free chlorine sensors for drinking water.[9]