Lego toys and Shell oil: a marriage made in the melting Arctic

Greenpeace created this video to show Lego that everything is not awesome

How ironic is an advertizing partnership between the worlds largest toy company and Shell, a fossil fuel corporation, whose profits depend on destroying the very future of those toy buying children? Amelia Urry at Grist writes about this nonsensical arrangement which has been in place since the 1960's and has grabbed the attention of Greenpeace, which is hoping to bring an end to the lunacy.

In fact, LEGO and Shell go way back, to the 1960s when the popular build-it-yourself toy company started selling Shell-branded toys to future engineers. But now, with Shell making persistent yet tentative moves in the warming Arctic, Greenpeace is calling out the companies’ 2012 contract, which they claim is worth $116 million to Shell’s PR department. The run of logo-bedecked toys are sold at gas stations in 26 countries, and have supposedly been accompanied by a 7.5 percent increase in Shell sales.

Shell is using Lego to clean up its image for dirty oil drilling and to gain acceptance in its desire to drill for oil in the fragile Arctic. Tell Lego to cut ties with Shell and save the Arctic. Sign the Greenpeace petition here!

Your voice matters. When millions of people demand that LEGO cut ties with Shell, our call will be impossible to ignore. LEGO cares deeply about what consumers think, and by signing the petition we are demonstrating the power of our massive movement. LEGO has listened to Greenpeace supporters in the past, and clearly states that one of its core ambitions is to “protect children’s right to live in a healthy environment.”