When I was a kid there was always one toy you could find in any class room and in any household. Everyone loved it and everyone knew about it. There were knockoffs and attempts to ‘improve’ on the design to no avail (lookin’ at you Mega Bloks).
With that little call out, I’m sure you all can figure out that I’m talking about LEGO. This isn’t the most recent article but what it was written about is soon to become relevant. LEGO announced their ambition to create a product and packaging manufactured by sustainable materials by 2030. What’s more important though is that they have stated they will create a LEGO sustainable materials centre by the end of 2016 which will cost them ~$150million. This is a huge step for a company as big as LEGO which has their brand tied to building block toys as the original and “premiere” product.
LEGO’s previous environmental response was to not renew their contract with Shell. However, this action was a more defensive-green action as it was in response to pressure from Greenpeace. Just like the Greenpeace campaign we watched in class targeting Nestle (the KitKat – Killer ad), Greenpeace created a YouTube video involving LEGO blocks depicting the Arctic slowly being drowned out by crude oil, with a Shell LEGO brick standing at the end of the video over a world of oil.
This time around, LEGO has proactively announced their goals for 2030 and are partnering with the WWF to find a sustainable solution. Regarding the 4Cs, this change doesn’t necessarily change anything up-front for the consumers but it is a great proactive background process change that will help LEGO move forward as pioneers instead of falling behind possible competition as the sustainability wave continues to come.
I for one am glad that one of my favourite childhood toys is going to continue into the future while helping our planet continue onwards as well.
The Greenpeace video targeting LEGO was certainly a powerful and effective one. I am very happy to hear about LEGO’s ambitious, sustainability-oriented plan because if the plan can be carried out successfully, it would bring considerable amount of influence to the market place given the company’s large market power. The first ones to be influenced would be LEGO’s suppliers as they would now need to provide sustainable materials in order to be accepted by LEGO. There is also influence on its consumers, and this is where LEGO can make a big difference because a large percentage of its users are children and teenagers, with fresh minds to learn about sustainability. LEGO has the ability to push up market demand for sustainable materials, as well as to shape the minds of future generations.