Should LEGO cut ties with Shell?

[legoman19892]

https://act.greenpeace.org/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1844&ea.campaign.id=29635

I haven't paid much attention, but as of now I brush this of as crazy talk.

On the other hand LEGO IS trying to be more environmentally conscious.

[AyliffeMakit]

I can see the message Greenpeace want to get across, but some of the things they have said are, well, just plain inaccurate really.

For example:

Shell’s global advertising deal with Lego is part of a carefully thought-out strategy by Shell to buy friends who can make its controversial Arctic drilling plans look acceptable and misleadingly associate it with positive values.

Erm, has anyone told Greenpeace that the only sets Lego have done with Shell are those pull-back ferraris, and they mainly use their own brand OCTAN when showing oil companies (and Octan have now transferred to using green energy anyway). Also, did anyone tell them about the upcoming Arctic City sets, which put across exactly the same message as Greenpeace does? And they used an image of an 80's set, before any of this trouble arose!

Overall, I think that the message they are trying to get across to people is acceptable (save the arctic), but all they've done is try to hit out at any company that has even the smallest link to Shell, and didn't do their research before setting up a full campaign and bombarding them with thousands of e-mails. Either way, neither Shell or TLG are going to come out of this situation unharmed.

[autorazr]

Why do we literally wait till something is as popular as its ever been, then blame it for everything? Rabble rabble rabble, A lack of female lego are the reason women arent equal and their ties to Shell are the reason polar bears are dying. Lego are misogynistic nature haters guys, its true. I'm a mountain man, I live in nature I love the environment, and I am aware of so many things that threaten it, stop finding something to blame and take responsibility. You know how to reduce carbon emissions? Get solar panels, buy a prius, wtf does lego have to do with that at all. Wanna know how to make women more equal too? Start treating women like equals, its got nothing to do with toys people. I know most of us arent clueless enough to get behind this greenpeace thing, but a surprising number of FOL's have gotten behind the gender imbalance thing. As a builder of MOC's and a customiser of minifigs, I would always love more diversity, but like, in all honesty, I have never felt an imbalance cause I have always felt I could make more female characters, and they dont need to use "female" torsos with printed curves and boobs, nor do they need to use "female" heads with pouty red pursed lips all kissing atchya, thats brickin' misogyny right there. Sorry ya'll I know this is about the polar bears and I kind of made it about two things, lets just stop trying to solve the worlds problems with lego, and try solving them with our actions, nah mean?

Edited July 1, 2014 by autorazr

[Sir Brickalot]

Ugh, there's been a partnership between the companies for decades. Why now is it so wrong? I hardly think it's TLG's fault that not everyone is a fan of Shell. Grrrrrrrr.

[AyliffeMakit]

Well, I just had a small argument with Greenpeace on their blog. And I actually won.

(scroll to the bottom of the page to find the argument)

[autorazr]

Well, I just had a small argument with Greenpeace on their blog. And I actually won.

(scroll to the bottom of the page to find the argument)

Ya know, I was so busy being stunned by the fact greenpeace would do this, I didnt even realize how flat out wrong they were, not surprising. Good job stating the facts.

[Faefrost]

Ya know, I was so busy being stunned by the fact greenpeace would do this, I didnt even realize how flat out wrong they were, not surprising. Good job stating the facts.

The sad thing with groups like this is actual facts rarely if ever matter. They will just declare victory and move on to the next victim.

[JopieK]

Greenpeace is also a terrorist organisation, I have seen "pandora's promise" that is a good movie that provides reasonable evidence that can be checked on how such an organisations work and that they are not environmentally friendly at all. Apart from that, Shell is also a company that has a lot of crimes on it's account I'm sure.

I'm much in favour of being environmentally friendly and also support better organisations like WWF but the Greenpiece people are just extremists in my opinion.

Some smart people were also already remarking that LEGO would have other reasons to be friends with Shell (plastics production), although there are experiments with plastics from seaweeds...

[ManInATopHat]

Um... I'm pretty sure I only have two elements of Lego with Shell on them, one being my Ferrari F1 race car and the other being a gas station sign from maybe the 80s. Lego does have ties with Shell, but they're so small, this petition seems completely pointless. Sounds to me like just another way to get people's attention. Lego doesn't deserve this negative publicity. Sometimes I find Greenpeace to be a little too over the top... People need natural gas, don't they?

[Bonaparte]

If they cut ties with Shell then LEGO should also stop making cars: both are different sides of the same coin.

[MikroMan]

The whole thing seems a bit stupid to me... Sure, I'm all for green stuff, but the evil conspiracy behind LEGO-Shell partnership seems rather forced/exaggerated...

[grum64]

Admire what they do but in this case it's just a misjudged and stupid way to court publicity!

[lightningtiger]

What has the Arctic sets to do with Shell........Greenpeace jumping the shark ?

[Cwetqo]

Answer from LEGO (Jurgen Vig Knudstorp):

http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/news-room/2014/july/lego-shell-partnership

[lightningtiger]

Well, that puts Greenpeace in their place.....if they have a problem with Shell they can leave a toy company out of it.

[getdamonkey]

Answer from LEGO (Jurgen Vig Knudstorp):

http://aboutus.lego....ell-partnership

Never realized the Danish translation of "shove it" was so long.

[Superkalle]

If they cut ties with Shell then LEGO should also stop making cars: both are different sides of the same coin.

Cars can also be powered by electricity (like Tesla S) and hydrogen (like Toyota FCV).

So for TLG, they could solve the problem by slapping a "Electricity Powered" sticker on their LEGO cars.

[Faefrost]

Does anyone else see the absurdity of Greenpeace demanding that the WORLDS LARGEST PLASTICS COMPANY sever its ties to the petroleum industry? I mean we do all realize that that is what Lego is right? In spite of their proffesed "green" outlook and solar panels on their warehouses etc. They are one of if not the biggest plastics companies in the world. So petroleum is going to factor into it somewhere.

[Heppeng]

Does anyone else see the absurdity of Greenpeace demanding that the WORLDS LARGEST PLASTICS COMPANY sever its ties to the petroleum industry? I mean we do all realize that that is what Lego is right? In spite of their proffesed "green" outlook and solar panels on their warehouses etc. They are one of if not the biggest plastics companies in the world. So petroleum is going to factor into it somewhere.

Are you sure about that? (He writes with his plastic keyboard, sitting on his plastic chair dressed in polyester shirt and trousers etc. etc.) You don't want to make the mistake of being as inaccurate as Greenpeace do you? I think that lego must be pretty small beer compared to the vast amount of other plastic products produced.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Heppeng

[jluck]

This is just completely ludicrous, I almost don't want to lower myself to acknowledging it. I'm sure Greenpeace is just targeting a large, popular company in an attempt to get ther message out but they've really mistepped with this one.

[1974]

Cars can also be powered by electricity (like Tesla S) and hydrogen (like Toyota FCV).

So for TLG, they could solve the problem by slapping a "Electricity Powered" sticker on their LEGO cars.

Where does electricy come from? Mostly coal powered plants. Not very nice to the enviroment

GP are bonkers, they've allways been complete agenda driven. Facts do not matter one bit

But they need to divert attention from their latest scandal (they lost 3.8mill EUR in fincial speculations, money donated by their members) so I guess targeting LEGO fits

.. the WORLDS LARGEST PLASTICS TOY COMPANY ..

There, fixed it for ya

[Cyberbricker]

It's a smart way to get the next generations attention as well as the current generation. I for one try to be environmentally aware and have cut back on LEGO sets a long time ago. I used to collect everything from the Star Wars Theme, but now I only buy the sets I really really want and if a sets is re-released and looks better, I try to update my old one.

Also I only use a bike for transportation and I'm a vegetarian/vegan, I only drink tab water, really nothing else but tab water . I don't have a cell phone (imagine people's faces when I tell them I don't have a cell phone ), I try to buy products that are not wrapped in plastic and my girlfriend made our own bread bags so that when we go the bakery they don't have to use a new one every time, and much more stuff.

I know LEGO is trying to do their best, but plastic is plastic. Not just LEGO plastic of course, many other companies are to blame, but also the consumer. Still oil will not always be there, actually it's almost gone which is why they have to go and drill near the Arctic, Shell needs to be stopped and the only way to stop them is by targeting their market!!

The time that we can all bury our head in the sand has long past!

[Bighappysmiles]

In all honesty, nothing in this modern world can ever be truly "green". And lets be honest, TLG uses a very, very large amount of plastic. The thing that gets me is when they say that by making LEGO sets they are indirectly hurting children and their future. That really makes me angry because LEGO was one of the best toys that I have ever had. It opened my mind to creativity and mechanics, and I think that that is more important then that trade deal TLG has with shell

[AndyC]

I think Greenpeace would do better to highlight the work of companies like Lego who are investing money in trying to find greener materials for their products instead of trying to create scandals like this.

[Paul B Technic]

It is all a storm in a tea cup.