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Ikea 'Bullied' a Potted Plant While Encouraging Another, Then Showed Schoolkids the Impact

But some are understandably skeptical of the 'experiment'

ikea-plants-hed-page-2018 — Students watched over 30 days as one plant was bullied by recorded messages.Ikea UAE

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How powerful is positive reinforcement? For humans, it’s undoubtedly vital in terms of helping us grow and succeed from a young age.

But what about for plants? Ikea and agency Memac Ogilvy Dubai wanted to prove that even a potted plant could suffer from the effects of bullying, so they brought a demonstration to a local school, GEMS Wellington Academy in Dubai.

In the school, one plant from Ikea was played recordings of negative, hurtful comments, such as, “You’re not even green,” and, “You look rotten.”