The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Greenpeace Lego Shell

Greenpeace kids stage a 'playtest' against Shell's partnership with Lego

Author

By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

July 29, 2014 | 3 min read

Greenpeace children today gathered outside of Shell’s London headquarters building three large Lego Arctic animals to protest the use of the oil-giant’s logo on the Danish toymaker’s products.

Protestors took to Shell headquarters early Tuesday morning

Over 50 kids accompanied by parents and guardians played in the street to protest Shell's operations in Arctic environments as well express concern regarding the petrochemical company's branding partnership with Lego.

Constructing a polar bear, walrus and finally a snowy owl reaching up to seven feet high, the protestors highlighted Shell’s interaction with endangered Arctic species.

Nearly 700,000 people signed a petition requesting Lego to end its partnership after the environmental charity released the controvesial ‘Lego: Everything is NOT Awesome’ short.

The video, a mock-up of the Lego movie showing the dangers of Shell’s Arctic operations, was temporarily removed from YouTube due to a copyright complaint from Time Warner.

Elena Polisano, Arctic campaigner at Greenpeace, claimed Shell’s association with the much-loved children’s brand Lego is masking its damaging role in the Arctic.

“Lego is trusted by parents and kids around the world so if Lego says Shell is OK, people believe it. But Shell is responsible for huge climate-wreaking carbon impacts and now it’s determined to drill in the Arctic.

“It’s a fragile environment and an oil spill would be devastating. And of course the only reason Shell can even reach the oil is because global warming is melting the ice.”

She added: “Children are leading this playful protest because global warming, and what’s happening in the Arctic, is an enormous threat facing all children. Lego is adored by kids, and it has a responsibility to look out for them. It’s unethical for Lego to partner with any company that’s threatening kids’ future.”

Lego refered The Drum to an earlier statement from Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, CEO of Lego: "The Greenpeace campaign focuses on how Shell operates in a specific part of the world. We firmly believe that this matter must be handled between Shell and Greenpeace. We are saddened when the Lego brand is used as a tool in any dispute between organisations.

He added: "We expect that Shell lives up to their responsibilities wherever they operate and take appropriate action to any potential claims should this not be the case."

‘Everything is NOT Awesome’ has had over five million views on Youtube.

Greenpeace Lego Shell

More from Greenpeace

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +