Greenpeace ramps up LEGO/Shell campaign

Environmental group Greenpeace has released a film online, highlighting its campaign against toy giant LEGO’s association with the oil company Shell. It deems the association ‘a collusion in the threat to the Arctic by promoting the controversial Shell brand on its toys’. 

Mel Evans, Arctic Campaigner at Greenpeace, said: “Every company has a responsibility to choose its partners and suppliers ethically. LEGO says it wants to leave a better world for children, yet it’s partnered with Shell, one of the biggest climate polluters on the planet, now threatening the pristine Arctic. That’s a terrible decision and its bad news for kids. We’re calling on LEGO to stand up for the Arctic, and for children, by ditching Shell for good.”

LEGO has responded to the campaign by posting a statement online from Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, president and ceo of the LEGO Group. He describes LEGO’s partnership with Shell as a way of putting “LEGO bricks into the hands of more children” and that LEGO “expect(s) that Shell lives up to their responsibilities wherever they operate”. He said LEGO “intend(s) to live up to the long term contract with Shell”.

You can watch the video, made by BAFTA-winning creative agency Don’t Panic, here. It has recently been suspended by YouTube, following a copyright claim from Warner Brothers.