Ikea to sell furniture in Sims 2 - with H&M fashion and

In Game advertising - Not content with taking over the real world with its brandof affordable flat-pack furniture, Ikea has announced a link-up with ElectronicArts in a marketing deal that will see the Swedish manufacturer’s goods pixelatedand used in the popular videogame Sims 2. The furniture will be available as anupdate, as of 27 June.
Speaking about the venture in the Guardian, Nancy Smith, EA’sglobal president for Sims, says: “For Ikea, The Sims 2 represents a mediachannel. This is a great channel for us to reach the young and young at heart.”

In-game advertising (IGA) is nothing new with productplacing cluttering up the likes of FIFA International Soccer billboards containingreal-life brands, but hard coded advertising is still relatively new – ie thesort that allows actual interaction with branded products.
This isn’t the first time, however, that The Sims has beensubject to this form of ad. Just last year you could buy and wear H&Mclothes in the game. This Fashion pack was extremely popular, selling around 1million copies.
The Sims 2 Ikea Home Stuff expansion pack will be available in June andcost around £12.

From the release:

Whether you want to create a trendy, spacious homeoffice, a chic living room, or a cozy and inviting bedroom, with thenew The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff, you can make your Sims' dream hometruly special. Design your Sims' rooms to fit their personalities withall-new sofas, beds, tables, a TV unit, shelving and more in a varietyof colors and patterns for a truly customized look. You can even addthe finishing touches with popular IKEA wall art, mirrors, lightingoptions and vases. Be your Sims' interior designer with inspiring,contemporary styles from IKEA!

In some ways it's the natural partnership. There is something unrealabout the Ikea experience, all those simulated family rooms,distributed through the warehouse-like shop space - a collection oflife-sized virtual worlds. And it's true, Sims rooms do resemble Ikeaspaces - all perfect right-angles and disinfected minimalism. Accordingto Steve Seabolt, Vice President of Global Brand Development for TheSims, this is what the community has asked for.
But doesn't this show a certain lack of imagination among Sims fans?I mean, this is a virtual world where anything is possible - why seekto replicate the flat-packed mundanity of mainstream interiors? Isuppose, it reflects the way a lot of people interact with the game -playing by the rules, looking after characters, trying to build a tidysimulcra of real-life in painstaking detail.
It's still weird though - I'd prefer a brand I couldn't afford inreality, or something I'd never consider for my own home. But I guessthat's why I'm not an avid Sims fanatic.
So, H&M, Ford and now Ikea - what brands would you like to see in the Sims universe?